The Otter and The Stag
by OPKILLERFROST100813
Summary: DISCONTINUED- What if Harry had met Hermione that day on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters? How different would their lives at Hogwarts be, knowing that they were each other's first friend?
1. Chapter 1

**A.N.: Hey guys, what's up? So I've decided to delete the other Harry Potter story and rewrite it. I didn't really like the beginning of it so much, and wanted to focus more on life for Harry while he was at home. I hope you guys like the new version. So, feel free to leave a Review, send a PM, and of course, enjoy. Until next time, OPKILLERFROST, out.**

Harry woke up staring at the ceiling of his room at Number Four, Privet Drive. Well, room was a bit of an overstatement. The place that Harry had called a room for the past ten years and eleven months of his miserable life was nothing but a cupboard under the stairs. It was barely large enough for him to stand straight. As he stood up, he heard his cousin, Dudley, pounding down the steps above Harry. As Harry began to leave his "room", his cousin ran by, punching Harry in the stomach, then pushing him back into the cupboard. Harry felt like throwing up after that punch, but there was nothing in his stomach _to_ throw up. He had gone to bed yet again with no dinner, and the Dursleys had not lost a wink of sleep over it. In fact, they had probably slept better knowing that Harry was suffering. Once the pain in Harry's gut subsided, he continued to the kitchen and began to make breakfast, just as he did every morning. While cooking, his Aunt hovered over him, smacking him in the head with a wooden spoon every time he made even a miniscule mistake.

"You've cooked the egg too long before flipping it!; You didn't cook the bacon long enough!; You're doing it all wrong, are you trying to poison my poor Duddy-kins?"

Once breakfast was finished, Harry started to go back to his cupboard before his Aunt stopped him. He was told to start cleaning the house, because Dudley's friends were coming over.

 _Great,_ Harry thought _Now I have to clean, and then I get the crap beaten out of me once Dudley's gang shows up. Perfect, just perfect._

This was not how Harry wanted to spend this day, but he had no choice. He continued to clean the living room, the kitchen, the bathroom, Dudley's room (do not even get Harry started on how much of a pig his cousin was), his Aunt and Uncle's room, and that was not even the end of it. He had to go outside, weed the garden, prune the bushes, and then he would finally be allowed into his cupboard. By the time that Harry had finished all these chores, his body was sore. He collapsed onto his bed and had just closed his eyes when his door was wrenched open and hands were grabbing at any part of Harry's body they could find.

"Quick, grab him!" He heard Dudley say

He was dragged through the now-empty kitchen and out into the back yard where he was held up by two of Dudley's friends. Harry looked up to his cousin with fear in his eyes as his cousin balled up his fist and punched Harry in the face, hard. Harry could already feel the area around his left eye begin to swell as the frames of his glasses slammed into his face. He looked up just in time to receive another blow, this time to the nose. Harry felt a warm liquid running down his face, but he was unable to stop it. Harry looked up once more and felt another punch land in his stomach. At this, he slumped so much that Dudley's friends just dropped Harry onto the ground, then proceeded to stomp and kick Harry. When they grew bored of this, they scampered off inside, leaving Harry tired and bleeding the backyard. He had long ago fallen unconscious from the pain, and he would not wake up until well after midnight when his Aunt had come out and started to hit him with the spoon telling him to get inside and clean up after Dudley and his friends. Harry slowly picked himself up off of the ground and proceeded inside, where there was a mess all over the living room. There were cups and plates, and garbage and soda bottles, it was an absolute pig sty. And he had to clean all of it up. Harry began to bring all the dirty dishes into the kitchen and gingerly placed them in the sink. He then doubled back and began to clean up every single piece of garbage that Dudley and his friends had left behind. Whenever his Aunt deemed his movements too slow, Harry would receive a smack in the back with the spoon. This happened a lot because of how sore Harry's ribs were. Once the garbage was picked up, Petunia Dursley forced Harry to was the dishes that had been used that night. It was well past three in the morning before Harry was allowed to finally go to his "room" and fall asleep for the night. Little did Harry know, his life at Privet Drive was going to change very, _very_ soon.

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Five weeks had passed since it had been Dudley's birthday, and strange things had been happening around the residence of Number 4, Privet Drive. Strange things, indeed. Harry had been moved out of the cupboard under the stairs after a letter had arrived for him. It had been clearly addressed to him, even stating where he was sleeping in the Dursley's house. After this, Harry had been moved into Dudley's extra bedroom. This was all because of the fact that the letter had scared his Aunt and Uncle for some reason. But, hey, Harry was not going to complain. He now had an actual room to live in, not just some cupboard under the stairs. Unfortunately, his stay had not lasted long. His Uncle had forced the family to a small hut on a rock in the middle of the sea. There, a rather large man appeared and told Harry that he was a wizard. He was a wizard, and he had no idea.

Although, it did explain a lot about things that had happened all throughout Harry's life. Times when he had somehow managed to get away from Dudley's gang whenever he was being chased, how bruises and broken bones managed to heal themselves overnight, or whenever he would get a haircut, but his Aunt would leave his bangs to hide his scar, his hair would grow back to its old length overnight. But Harry knew, if he went to this school, it could make Harry's life a lot better. So Harry went with Hagrid, the large man that had just saved Harry, to Diagon Alley. There, Harry learned that his parents had left him a small fortune. Using this, Harry bought everything he would need for a year at Hogwarts. It was quite the adventure. He needed things from schoolbooks to things like gloves made from dragon skin. When Harry was getting his school books, he picked up some extra books to learn about the wizarding world. Now all Harry needed was a wand.

When he stepped inside Ollivander's, Harry noticed that there were thousands upon thousands of wands stacked up as high as the ceiling and as far back as the shop could go. But the thing that would leave an impression in Harry's mind for years was the owner of the shop itself, Mr. Ollivander. Mr. Ollivander proceeded to measure all sorts of parts on Harry's body, then they continued to try out dozens of wands before Harry finally found the right one. Then Harry learned something about his wand that he wished he had not.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather- just one other. It is very curious inded that you should be destined for this wand when its brother- why, its brother gave you that scar."

After that, Harry had not felt like talking much. Instead, he just stayed silent all the way to the train station until Hagrid told him that he had to leave. At this, Hagrid left Harry alone in the train station, one moment there, the next, gone. Harry was very confused at that, because Hagrid was a really large person, almost four feet taller than the average person, and at least three times as wide. How he had managed to disappear was beyond Harry. So without someone to watch over Harry, he made his way through the train station and got on a train heading for Little Whinging.

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Harry's last month at the Dursley's were better in many ways, but they were also worse. While he was not forced to stay in the cupboard under the stairs, he his relatives had forced him to do every excruciating chore they could think of. But they had told him through notes. They had never uttered a single word to him for the entire month that he was there. While it was nice to not be yelled at, it grew very depressing to have nobody to talk to, even if those words were full of animosity and hate. But Harry got through it all. He made it through the month and even managed to get his Uncle to drive him to Kings Cross Station on the morning of September 1st. When he got there, he had just enough time to unload his trunk and Hedwig from the car before his Uncle sped off, leaving Harry to find Platform Nine and Three-Quarters all on his own. Harry managed to find his way to the barrier between Platform Nine and Platform Ten, but beyond that, Harry had no idea where he was going. That was, until a girl with a lot of bushy brown hair and large front teeth found him.

"Hello! Are you trying to get to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters?" She asked

"Yes." Harry said quietly

"Follow me, I know how to get there."

Following behind the girl, he saw he walk right into the barrier, then disappear. Harry followed her, and when he got on the other side, he saw a lot of strangely dressed people all crowded around the platform next to a large scarlet steam engine. Not knowing what to do, Harry just followed the bushy haired girl and her parents, who appeared to be muggles. When they found an empty compartment, they helped each other load their trunks into it. Harry sat down while the girl said goodbye to her parents. After a couple minutes, the train's whistle sounded. The girl came back into the compartment and sat down across from Harry.

"Excuse me, but I don't think that you gave me your name. I'm Hermione Granger." She said

"Oh! I'm Harry, Harry Potter."

At this, Hermione gasped. She looked at his forehead and her eyes widened a little bit. It made Harry a bit uncomfortable, and he started to squirm a little in his seat. Thankfully Hermione caught on to this and stopped staring.

"Oh my, I'm sorry. It's rude to stare. It's just that, I've read so much about you!"

"R- read about me?" Harry asked

"Yes! You're in so many of the books that I bought for extra reading! You're in _Modern Magical History_ and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_!"

"Am I?"

"You mean you don't know? I'd have thought that you would've known all this being one of the most famous wizards of this age."

"I- I only learned I was a wizard about a month ago." Harry mumbled "My Aunt and Uncle kept that information from me in hopes that I would never find out what I was."

"Oh my. I'm so sorry, Harry. I had no idea. Why would your Aunt and Uncle do that to their own nephew?"

"They don't think of me as their nephew. I'm just the freak of a person that was left on their doorstep the morning after my parents died."

"Harry, you're not a freak. I've only known you for fifteen minutes, and I can already tell that you are a wonderful person. Don't let what they say affect you. They are horrible people and they shouldn't treat you the way they do."

"Thanks, Hermione."

They both sat in comfortable silence until a short woman came by with a cart full of sweets. Since neither Harry nor Hermione had ever had any of these, Harry bought a little bit of everything. Together, they enjoyed eating the sweets and learning about each other. Hermione's parents were both dentists, who owned their own practice. As it turned out, Harry was Hermione's first friend as well. Growing up, kids had always made fun of Hermione for being a bookworm, so she never had any friends growing up. Both of them continued to talk and have fun until a pale, blond haired boy came into the compartment. Harry recognized him from Diagon Alley when he was getting his robes fitted. The boy was followed by two boys that looked like they would be best friends with Dudley.

"Is it true? They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes." Said Harry. But his attention was not on the pale boy, but the two behind him. They looked more like bodyguards than anything.

"Oh, this is Crabbe, and this is Goyle, and my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Hermione gave a small cough, which happened to be at just the wrong time, because the boy then rounded on her.

"Think my name's funny do you? I saw you with your parents. They looked like they didn't have a clue what was happening around them, the muggles. I bet you're going to be nothing but lost as soon as we start classes, you mudblood."

Harry recognized this word. In one of the extra books he had gotten, he read that the word mudblood was a nasty term used for people that were born from two muggle parents. It was only used by pure-blood wizards who believed anybody that was anything else was below them. Harry looked over and saw that she must have recognized the word too, because she was close to tears. He did not want to see his friend- his only friend- to be bullied by some kid who believed her below him just because of who her parents were. Harry stood up and got right in Malfoy's face, seething with anger.

"I think you need to leave. Now." Harry said

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter. Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around mudbloods like her and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."

Now it was Hermione's turn to stand up and be angry. Harry had to admit, Hermione looked scary when she was angry. He did not want to be the cause of all that anger, but Malfoy was. Harry almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

"Say. That. Again." Hermione said

"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered

"Unless you get out now." Harry said through clenched teeth

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."

Crabbe reached for a Chocolate Frog, but Hermione snatched it away before his meaty fist could grab it. That was when Malfoy had moved. He moved forward and smacked Hermione across the face, causing her to fall to the floor, tears falling from her eyes. If Harry had not been mad before, he was livid now. Balling his right hand into a fist, Harry lunged forward and punched Malfoy across the face, watching the pale boy fall to the floor. Before Harry could do any more damage, Crabbe and Goyle moved forward, grabbing both of Harry's arms and pinned him against the wall. Harry watched Malfoy get up and look down at Hermione, then up at him.

"You're going to regret that, Potter." Malfoy said

Draco looked like he was about to start hitting Harry when Hermione finally pulled herself from the ground and attacked Draco. She tackled him into the bench that Harry had been sitting on previously and continued to punch him in the face. That was, until Goyle let go of Harry and pulled her off of him. Goyle then threw Hermione onto the other bench and back handed her across the face when she tried to get up.

"HEY!"

Everybody looked up to see a tall boy with red hair and freckles standing in the doorway. He had a shiny badge on his chest that had a "P" on it. But that was not what Harry was focused on. He was more focused on how mad the boy's face was.

"What is going on here?" He asked

"Get out of here, Weasley. A blood-traitor like you shouldn't meddle in things that don't concern him." Malfoy said

"You better watch your tone. I know who your father is, Malfoy. I don't think he'll be pleased when he hears that his son and his lackeys have been beating on Harry Potter and a girl."

If it was possible, the boy's face grew paler. Harry wanted to laugh because of this, but found that it probably wasn't the right time. Draco softly mumbled "Let's go." to Crabbe and Goyle, and they left. The red haired boy followed them, scolding them the entire way. Harry looked over to Hermione, and saw tears streaking down her face. Harry walked over and sat next to her before wrapping his arms around the crying girl. For the next five minutes, Hermione just continued to cry into Harry's shoulder, and Harry stayed silent. After she had calmed down, Hermione looked up at Harry, and saw that tears of his own were sliding down his cheeks.

"Oh, Harry. I'm sorry."

"What do you have to be sorry for?" Harry asked

"I've been here crying into your shoulder over what those boys did to me, when what they did to you was far worse."

"Hermione, I don't mind, really. I can take a beating. I have my entire life. I just hated the way that he treated you. Nobody should be made fun of just because of who their parents were, especially a girl."

"What do you mean? How have you been taking a beating?"

This was something that Harry had kind of dodged around when he was talking to Hermione earlier. He knew that it was not normal for children to be abused the way he had, he thought that it would be best if Hermione did not know about it.

"My entire life I've been beaten, whether it was from my cousin, his parents, or my Uncle's sister. Whenever I did something wrong, I was hit. Whenever I was better than Dudley at something, I was hit. Whenever Dudley was bored, I was hit. I've been taking beatings my entire life. I'm used to it by now. What I wasn't used to was having a friend be made fun of, then hit. That's what I'm upset about."

"Harry, you can't just let your relatives abuse you like that! They can't hit you! It's against the law!"

"Hermione, there's nothing I can do about it. I'm not allowed anywhere near a phone, so I can't call the police. I'm stuck in that house until I become a legal adult."

"Tell one of the professors at Hogwarts! You have to do something, Harry! I can't bear the idea that you have to be abused by those horrid people!"

"Alright, Hermione, I'll talk to one of the professors."

This seemed to calm her down a bit. For the rest of the train ride, they sat, holding each other in silence. As they sat like this, Harry realized that this was the first time that he had ever hugged anybody. He found that he liked it. When a voice that seemed to come from nowhere announced that they were going to be arriving at Hogwarts in the next five minutes, Harry stood outside the compartment so Hermione could change into her school robes. Once she finished, she exited so Harry could change. After that, they just sat there, waiting until they got to Hogwarts. When the train stopped, they stood up and left the compartment with the flow of other students. Once outside, they saw that it was night time, and that they were on a small platform, barely big enough to hold the students exiting the train. They were confused as to where they were going to go, so Harry and Hermione started to follow the rest of the students until they heard a voice calling.

"Firs' years! Firs' Years over here! All right there, Harry?" Hagrid boomed

Following Hagrid, all of the First Years walked along a dark and narrow path. Once the darkness swallowed them, Harry felt Hermione grab his hand. He tried to see her expression, but it was too dark. So they just continued following Hagrid for what seemed like hours.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec, jus' round this bend here." Hagrid called back everyone

When they went around the bend, there was a lot of "Oooohs!" and "Aaaahs!"

Across a large, black lake, there was a mountain with a castle at the top. The castle had many towers and turrets with all of its shining windows. Harry heard Hermione gasp next to him, but he just stood there, staring at his new home. They were all brought back to reality when Hagrid started to tell them to get into a fleet of boats. Harry ended up in one with Hermione, a red haired boy that looked a lot like the one from the train, and a round faced boy that looked like he was upset.

"You okay?" Hermione asked

"I lost my toad. I haven't been able to find him since before we got on the train. He's probably long gone by now."

"I'm sorry." Hermione said "If I had known on the train, I would've helped you look for it."

"Why are you so hung up on a toad? It's not like it's that great of an animal like an owl." The red haired boy said

"It was a gift from my Uncle for getting into Hogwarts."

"But still, a toad?"

"How would you feel if your animal were to suddenly go missing?" Hermione asked heatedly

"I wouldn't really care. It's not like he does anything, the lazy rat."

"Wait, you have a rat, and you're getting on him about having a toad?" Harry asked

At this, the red haired boy shut up and stayed silent. They continued across the lake through a dark tunnel so that they were right under the castle. They got out of the boats, and were waiting for Hagrid to lead them on, but he was checking the boats to make sure that nothing was left behind. It was a good thing, too, because he pulled a toad out of one of them.

"Trevor!" the round faced boy cried

He took his toad from Hagrid, and then they all marched up to the castle together, following the large man through another tunnel cut through the rock. This time, there were torches along the walls, so it was not as dark as the last one. When they reached the end of the tunnel, they were in front of a large pair of oak doors. Hagrid slammed his large fist against it three times, and then the doors opened to reveal an aged witch in emerald robes. Hagrid introduced her as Professor McGonagall before she then led them inside where she explained what their life at Hogwarts would be like. Then she left them until the Sorting Ceremony was ready. They all stood in the entrance hall, talking to each other until something happened that made everybody shout.

Ghosts were streaming through the walls, talking to each other. Something about a person named Peeves? Then one of the ghosts noticed them. It turns out that most ghosts represented a certain house. Before they could talk more, Professor McGonagall returned, and they continued to the Great Hall. It was full of students, each sitting at four tables. As Harry looked at the ceiling, he saw that it looked just like a night sky.

"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in _Hogwarts: A History_." Hermione whispered to me

They then all stopped walking as they reached the front of the hall. They saw a stool with an old hat sitting on it. Harry was worried that he would have to do some charm on it, like pulling a bunny out of the hat. But then the hat did something that none of the First Years expected. It started to _sing._ Near the end of the song, it revealed that all they had to do to be sorted was put the hat on. He heard the red haired boy say that someone named Fred had told him something about wrestling a troll. With all their worries away, they began to be sorted. They began to go through all the kids, alphabetically by last name. When it was Hermione's turn, she gave Harry's hand a squeeze and then walked up to the stool. Harry had not realized that he had been holding Hermione's hand all throughout the trip to the school. When she sat on the stool, Harry heard the hat call out "GRYFFINDOR!" Harry was surprised. He had expected her to be put into Ravenclaw, where the students were known for being smart. Neville was also put in Gryffindor, and a little while after him, they got to the little weasel named Malfoy. The hat had barely touched his head when the hat shouted "Slytherin!" Then, it was a short while until his name was called. He could hear everybody whispering. As he walked to the stool, he tried to appear as calm as possible. When he sat down, the hat covered up most of his head, going down below his eyes.

"Hmm, difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. That's talent, oh my goodness, yes- and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting… So where shall I put you?" the hat muttered

 _Not Slytherin… Not Slytherin…_ Was all Harry could think at the moment. The hat must have been able to read his mind, because it started to speak his thoughts.

"Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that- no? Well, if you're sure- better be GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry smiled as he walked over to the table on the far right. He sat next to Hermione and we all waited for the sorting to be done. The red haired boy that was in the boat with Harry and Hermione was also sorted into Gryffindor, making the two of them groan. After him though, the sorting was over, and they all looked to Professor Dumbledore.

"Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

Harry just stared at the Headmaster for a few moments before Hermione nudged him. "Aren't you going to eat anything?" She asked

Harry turned around and saw that the table was now full of delicious looking foods. Harry started to pile a little of everything onto his plate. Harry and Hermione did not talk much while they were eating, only speaking to offer each other different foods. Once the feast was over, and desert had been served, Dumbledore stood up again. He told the students that they were not to go into the forest on the grounds, that they should not use magic in the corridors, something about a game called Quidditch, and that they should stay away from the third floor corridor on the right-hand side was forbidden to anyone who did not wish to die a painful death. That part made Harry nervous. Why would they have something at a school that could kill the students that happened upon it? Maybe it was the package that Hagrid had gotten from Gringotts on Harry's birthday. Whatever it was, Harry was too tired to think too much about it, and followed the other Gryffindors to their Common Room. Before they parted, Hermione gave Harry another hug, then they both went up to bed. Without much talk, Harry and the other four boys in his dormitory fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N.: Hey guys, what's up? First off, thank you to everybody who left a review on that first chapter. I always love getting feedback. It helps a lot to know what you guys think of how I write. I'm always going to respond to whoever left a review, so here's the people from last chapter.**

 **To Cheryl, you guessed it. Neville will be replacing Ron in the Golden trio, and that's for many reasons. I never liked how Ron was always complaining, being lazy, or just overall being a pain in the ass for everyone around him. So I've decided to make him a minor character and bump up Neville's importance by a lot.**

 **To Irishdanceringrulz1776, it was merely a typo. I forgot to account for the fact that Harry lived with his parents for over a year of his life. I went back and fixed it. Although while I'm on the topic of dates, I have decided that the story is going to be a bit more modern than the books were. Instead of the first book taking place from 1991-1992, it's going to be from 2001-2002.**

 **To knuckles 8, eventually Harry will get help. Although it won't happen for a while, he will. I'm going to have him start getting help for it after he goes to school for his Third Year. Yes, that's a long ways away, but there are things that have to happen with Harry getting smacked around before then.**

 **To XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX, as I said above, Neville will be hanging around with Harry and Hermione more, and this will help him gain confidence. Having more stable friends is going to boost his self-esteem by a lot.**

 **Pro**

 **And to SSB-CRAZYBUDGIEPOTTERHEAD, starboy454, 1, and DrewSb, thank you all for the reviews. There's going to be plenty more coming, all I'm hoping you guys will like just as much, if not more than the first chapter.**

 **Again thank you all for leaving reviews, and I hope to see more in the coming chapters. But enough of me talking, I'll let you guys get to reading. So, feel free to leave a review, send a PM, and of course, enjoy. Until next time, OPKILLERFROST, out.**

It was Halloween, and for once, Harry was not miserable. Even though it was the day that his parents died ten years ago, there was a feeling of happiness inside of Harry. For the past ten years, Harry had been abused, every day of the year, but it was always worse on Halloween. He had not found out why until he was six. In the midst of his Aunt beating him with metal tongs, she had screamed at him.

"Why couldn't you have died along with her?!" she asked

Even for six-year-old Harry, it was not hard to figure out who the "she" his Aunt had been referring to. He always received extra beatings on the thirty-first of October because his Aunt blamed him for her sister's death. It was the reason that Harry hated that day the most out of any other day of the year. But something was different this year. He was at Hogwarts. He would not have to be beaten today. Today, he would be going to classes, hanging out with Hermione and Neville, and just enjoying life. This past week had been the best of his life. On Thursday, Malfoy had stolen Neville's new Remembrall after the poor boy had fallen off of his broom. In order to get it back, Harry had followed Malfoy into the air on his broomstick. Malfoy then threw the ball into the air, but Harry caught it after a _very_ steep dive. When Professor McGonagall came out and started yelling, Harry thought that he was going to be expelled for sure. But to Harry's surprise, he had been made Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. In order to play properly on the team, Professor McGonagall had gotten him a Nimbus Two Thousand (the fastest broom ever), and included a note telling him that he had his very first Quidditch practice later that night. When Harry had gone to bed, exhausted, the castle was the same Hogwarts that he had known for the past two months. Now today, it was like the castle was spookier than ever, but in the whacky haunted house that a church would put together for kids. The entire castle was decorated in shades of orange and black, along with the smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the halls from wherever the kitchen was located. After breakfast, the trio of friends went to Charms, where they learned they would be learning how to make things fly. Professor Flitwick put them into pairs, pairing Hermione with Ron, disappointing Harry. But he was put with Neville, so he could not complain that much. After putting out feathers in front of each pair of students, they all tried to make them fly. Ron was growing increasingly frustrated at the fact that his feather simply refused to lift itself from the table.

" _Wingardium Leviosa!_ " He yelled, but the feather stayed still

"You're saying it wrong. It's Wing- _gar_ -dium Lev _-o-_ sa, make the 'gar' nice and long." Hermione snapped at him

Ron sneered at Hermione when she told him this. "You do it, then, if you're so clever." Ron said

Without hesitation, Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, then said the incantation. The feather lifted off of the table and started to float wherever Hermione pointed her wand. After this, Ron was in a terrible mood. Hermione had hung back at the end of class to ask the Professor if there was any way she could get some extra credit, even if she did not need it. She told Harry and Neville to go on ahead without her, so they walked out of the classroom right behind Ron, Seamus, and Dean. They heard him talking heatedly about Hermione.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her, she's a nightmare, honestly."

Harry felt someone bump into his shoulder. It was Hermione, and Harry was infuriated that he saw tears rushing down her cheeks. Harry immediately began to run after her, and he could hear Neville shouting at Ron behind him.

"What the hell is the matter with you? Why can't you just be a decent human being for once in your life? Do you always have to be so mean to everyone that you don't deem as a friend?!"

It took him two staircases and three corridors later, but Harry had finally managed to catch up with Hermione. He grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. She looked just like she had after they had met Malfoy on the train. Her face was red and splotchy, her hair was even bushier than normal because she had been running, and the front of her shirt was wet with her tears. This made Harry want to murder Ron for making his best friend look like that.

"Harry let go. I want to be left alone." She said, trying to get loose of Harry's grip

"No, Hermione. If there's one thing I've learned all throughout my life, is that nobody should be alone when they're hurting. There should always be someone around to help them get through their pain."

"But he's right. I'm sure that you and Neville can't stand me. I'm always showing off in class, answering every question in class, getting the answer before everybody else, always talking about books, how can you possibly put up with me?"

"Because you are the first person that I met that was actually nice to me. You actually care about me, not just fake it in public so you don't look bad. You want to be around me and don't shrink back whenever I touch you. Your face doesn't turn into an expression of disgust when you look at me. You are the first friend that I've ever had, and I wouldn't want to change that for the world."

Hermione did not say anything. She just stood still and let herself be wrapped in Harry's arms. They stood there like that for quite a while before they heard something that nobody ever wanted to hear if they were not in class.

"Where are they, my sweet? Where are those nasty, class-skipping students?"

It was Filch. There was no doubt about it. While they had been talking, they had not heard the bell ring, so they were late for their next class. They looked around for anywhere to hide, and found a door off to their right. When Harry tried to open it, he found that it was locked. That was it, they were done for.

"Oh, move over. _Alohomora!_ " Hermione said, tapping the lock with her wand

The door immediately popped open, and they rushed inside. They closed the door behind them and let out a sigh of relief. But there was something wrong. There were _three_ people sighing, yet it was only Harry and Hermione. Looking up, the two of them were looking at a giant, three-headed dog. It was looking at them as if it had just been brought a snack. Looking around for an escape route, Harry saw that the dog was standing on a trap door. He would go through it, but there would be no way out. They both screamed, and ran out of the room, not caring if they ran into Filch. Whatever punishment he could think of was way better than death-by-three-headed-dog. When they left the room, the corridor was clear, and they started to catch their breaths. That was not what they expected to be on the other side of that door.

"Harry, do you realize where we are?" Hermione asked

"I'm guessing the right-hand side of the third-floor corridor?"

"Yeah. I wasn't thinking of where we were going, only that we had to get away from Filch. Why on _Earth_ would Professor Dumbledore have that locked up in a castle full of students? That's just not very safe."

"I don't know. Maybe Hagrid might. I'm betting that whatever Hagrid got from Gringotts on my birthday in under the trap door it was sitting on."

"You saw that too? I was hoping that I wasn't losing my mind."

"Far from it. Let's start walking to Transfiguration. We can't show up at History of Magic now that it's almost over."

"Alright."

They spent the rest of the day in classes, wondering what it was that the dog was guarding. They told Neville what was in that room, and he said that he'd never heard of a three-headed dog.

"It sounds like Cerberus." Hermione muttered

"What's a Cerberus?" Harry and Neville asked

"It's a three-headed dog that guards the Underworld in Greek Mythology. It was said that the dog looked like a three-headed, giant Rottweiler, same as the one that we just encountered."

For the rest of the day, the kids had barely payed attention. Their thoughts were all on the dog that was now occupying the third floor corridor on the right-hand side. Later, they were all at the Halloween feast, where they were enjoying a lot of pumpkin-flavored everything. Unfortunately, the feast did not last that long. Professor Quirrell came running into the Great Hall, his purple turban askew.

"Troll! Troll- in the dungeon!" He screamed before mumbling "Thought you out to know."

Everybody started yelling and screaming at once, before Professor Dumbledore sent firecrackers from his wand to silence everyone.

"Prefects, lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!" He bellowed

Percy immediately started to take control, leading everyone to the Common Room. They were all brought there and told to go to sleep, but nobody was listening. Everyone was talking about how a troll managed to get into the castle. There should have been defenses to keep it from even getting onto the grounds. Someone had to have let it in. After hours of talking, Professor McGonagall came in and told them all to go to bed or she would start taking points.

"Yes, Mister Weasley, from my own house!" She yelled when Ron started to complain

And so Hermione went to the Girl's Dormitory, while Harry and Neville went to the Boy's. There, all three of them stayed awake talking to their respective roommates. After all of the other boys had gone to sleep, Harry lied there, thinking about something that nobody had thought about. Quirrell had come in screaming about a troll in the dungeons. After that, Professor Dumbledore told the prefects to bring the students to their Common Rooms. But the Slytherin and Hufflepuff Common Rooms were in the _dungeons._ Why would Dumbledore tell the students to go to the very same place Quirrell said the troll was? It made no sense. But before long, tiredness claimed Harry and he fell asleep.

The next month passed by without incident, and with November came something that Harry had been looking forward to: his first Quidditch match. All week, Harry had been nervous, with Neville and Hermione whispering assurances into Harry's ear as they walked the halls or stood in the courtyard. They were doing the same with Harry the day before the match when who other but Snape. Harry was reading _Quidditch Through the Ages_ , a book that he had gotten from the library.

"What have you got there, Potter?" Snape asked

When Harry showed him the book, Snape took five points from Gryffindor, stating that library books were not allowed outside. After that, Snape walked away, limping. They all wondered what was wrong with him, but they all had other things to think about, what with classes and Quidditch. Later that night in the Common Room, however, Harry decided that he was going to get his book back. He left for the staff room, and when he got there, Snape was having his leg looked at by Filch.

"Blasted thing, how are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?" Snape said

There was a large bite on Snape's lower leg. Harry tried to close the door quietly, but-

"POTTER!"

"I just wondered if I could have my book back." Harry said

"GET OUT! _OUT_ "

With that, Harry left and went back to the Common Room. Harry told Neville and Hermione about what he had seen, and they were instantly thinking of conspiracy theories.

"You know what this means? He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween! That's where he was going when we saw him- he's after whatever it's guarding! And I'd bet my broomstick _he_ let that troll in, to make a diversion!" Harry said

"No- he wouldn't. I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe?" Hermione said

This made Harry start thinking. It was true that Snape probably would not try and steal whatever was under that trap door, but that begged the question: why was he in the third-floor corridor? There were parts of this story that were not adding up. If it was not Snape trying to steal the object, then who was it?

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The next day, Harry was thinking of nothing but Quidditch. It was finally time for Harry's first match Would a Bludger end up hitting him in the head, just as it had done to Wood during his first game? Or would the Snitch be under his nose and the other Seeker would catch it? Harry was so scared about what would happen, Harry could not even eat his breakfast.

"You've got to eat some breakfast." Hermione said

"I don't want anything."

"Just a bit of toast."

"I'm not hungry."

"Harry, you need your strength. Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team." Seamus said

"Thanks, Seamus." Harry said, while watching the boy create Mount Ketchup on top of his sausages

An hour later, Harry was standing on the field at the Quidditch Pitch. High above him in the stands, was the entire school. On Madam Hooch's instruction, all fourteen players mounted their brooms and flew into the sky. This was Harry's favorite part of the game, he could already tell. Just the feeling of launching into the air on his broom gave him such a rush, that he thought that he would find nothing better. He was wrong. The adrenaline rush from dodging Bludgers and other players was far more exciting than kicking off the ground. But it got better.

"Slytherin in possession, Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the- wait a moment- was that the Snitch?" Lee Jordan commentated

Harry saw it. There was a rush of gold that had gone past Pucey's ear that caused him to drop the Quaffle. Harry immediately followed the small golden ball, but it was a fast little bugger. Harry chased it all over the stadium, but just before he was about to catch it, Marcus Flint got in his way. After that, Harry flew high over the stadium again, hoping to get another glimpse of the Snitch. A couple minutes later, Harry dodged a Bludger when his broom gave an awful lurch. Harry tried to fly towards Oliver, thinking about telling him about what his broom was doing. But he could not. His broom was completely and utterly out of his control. By now, his broom was trying to throw him off, and Harry was only just hanging on.

"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing. If I didn' know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom… but he can't have." Hagrid muttered

Hermione and Neville were sitting with Hagrid watching the game. Now that Hermione was actually watching a Quidditch game, she was worried out of her mind for her best friend. After seeing what a Bludger could do to one of the Slytherin Chasers, she was so scared that Harry was going to get seriously hurt. She could not think of what would happen if Harry was hurt during this game. But then, his broom started to try and buck Harry off. It was something strange. By now, everybody in the stands had their heads pointed at Harry. Now, Harry's broom started to roll over and over, until Harry was swung off of it, causing him to hold on by one hand. Hermione grabbed Hagrid's binoculars and started to look towards where the teachers were sitting.

"I knew it! Quirrell- look!"

Hermione shoved the binoculars in Neville's face and he saw it too, Quirrell and Snape were muttering under their breaths non-stop. Which one was cursing Harry's broom? One of them was trying to kill Harry and one of them was trying to save him. An idea lit up into her head.

"He's doing something- jinxing the broom." Hermione said

"What should we do?" Neville asked

"Leave it to me."

Without another word, Hermione took off throughout the stands and made her way over to the teacher's box, with Neville close behind. While everyone was looking towards Harry, Hermione used a spell to make Quirrell's robes catch fire. Once someone pointed this out, and Quirrell's eye contact was broken, the broom stopped bucking. Hermione scooped the fire into a jar before taking off for where they were sitting with Hagrid. Now with control over his broom, Harry got his other hand on the broom, and used them to pull himself up. Immediately, he started pelting to the ground, in chase of something. Harry was in a dive now, but something was wrong, his hand went to his mouth and he hit the dirt. He rolled onto all fours and spit something into his hand. It was obvious what it was when he held it up to the light. It was the Golden Snitch. Harry had damn near swallowed the Snitch. Gryffindor won by one hundred and seventy points to Slytherin's sixty. Lee Jordan was shouting the results, but Harry could not hear a word of it. He was too busy being smothered in a hug by Hermione.

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod… Harry James Potter, don't you ever do something like that again!" She yelled at him

"I'm sorry Hermione. Last time I checked, brooms usually don't try to shake their riders off."

"I know! I'll tell you about what I found later! For now, we're going to celebrate!"

They spent the next couple of hours in Hagrid's hut, talking to him about what Hermione had found out. When Hermione had initially mentioned Snape, Hagrid seemed to think against it, but after Quirrell became part of the equation, he stopped, his mouth open mid-sentence.

"Now there's somethin' that I actually might believe. Snape has been a Hogwarts teacher fer years, but Quirrell, he's a new feller. He only jus' started teachin' this year. I wouldn' doubt him tryin' ter curse Harry. You lot should go to ter Professor Dumbledore. He is gonna want to tell Nicolas about what what's been goin' on here."

"Nicolas? Nicolas Flamel?" Harry asked

"I shouldn' have said that. Should not have said that."

After that, they went back to the Common Room, and went to bed thinking about who Nicolas Flamel was and what business he had with Professor Dumbledore.

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Now with the first Quidditch match over, Christmas was approaching fast. But Hermione had done something months ago that Harry had no clue about.

"You wrote home to your parents about me spending Christmas with you?"

"Yes?" She said quietly

"Hermione, why didn't you tell me sooner? I would love to spend the holidays with your family. I just hope I don't disrupt any traditions that you guys have."

"Harry, that's what you're worried about? My mum and dad have already said that they would love to have you over for the holidays. After all, you are the first friend I've ever had other than Gary."

"Gary?"

"He was my imaginary friend when I was eight." She said, smiling sheepishly

Harry could not help himself. He started laughing, even though Hermione started to punch him in the arm.

"Ow, alright. Ow, Hermione stop! Ow, ow! Alright, I'm sorry!"

The problem was, Hermione looked genuinely hurt. She could not believe that Harry would laugh at the fact that she had an imaginary friend when she was eight years old. So what? She never had any friends, so she made a few of her own.

"Aw, man, Hermione- I didn't mean to laugh. I found it cute. I didn't mean to laugh at you the way I did. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Harry. I'm just a very sensitive subject for me."

"I know. But I have to ask one thing. Who's better looking, me or Gary?"

At this, Hermione turned scarlet and Harry started dying of laughter. They spent the rest of the day hanging out, and around noon, started a large snowball fight with damn near everybody in Gryffindor was taking part in. Even Hermione put a book down to play. Suffice to say, it was one of the best days of Harry's life. He still could not believe that the following week, he was going to be leaving to spend two whole weeks being with nobody but Hermione.


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N.: Hey guys, what's up? Thank you again, to everybody who left a review. This chapter is going to show what the holiday break is going to be like for Harry and Hermione. This chapter is going to be a rollercoaster ride of emotions for Harry, but that should be expected. I mean, c'mon guys, the kid had not even received a hug until after their fight with Draco on September**

 **To madwamoose, you guys will just have to wait and see for when we get to there.**

 **To Princesakarlita411, their friendship will only continue to grow over the coming years. Well, for them it will be years, for us it is a number of chapters.**

 **To Arnold DeVillena, yes, Ron will have to spend Christmas all alone.**

 **To Beyondthesea 16, the way I figured it, Harry staying with Hermione for Christmas makes their friendship stronger because of the fact that this will be the first Christmas Harry has had where he is not treated like an animal.**

 **To knuckles 8, since you brought what Dumbledore was doing up, I will admit that I am going to make Dumbledore look not so glamorous as he seemed in the books. It will not be so bad that it makes him look as evil as Voldemort, but it will not make him look like a saint, either.**

 **To Cheryl, my thoughts exactly. Once Neville started getting a stronger support system, especially around the end of fifth year, he started to grow more confident and not the shy, round-faced boy we knew in first year.**

 **To Riniko 22, like I said above, that is just one of the many things that are going to make Dumbledore not look like such a saint after all.**

 **To Reading Rainbow, I am… not sure how to respond to that.**

 **To MythStar Black Dragon and starboy454, thank you for the review. There are** _ **plenty**_ **of more chapters on the way.**

 **So, feel free to leave a review, send a PM, and of course, enjoy. Until next time, OPKILLERFROST, out.**

Harry was in disbelief. He was actually going to have a Christmas where he was not locked inside of a cupboard for all hours of the day except those in which he was forced to cook. He was barely focused on the world as he pulled his trunk behind him towards the station in Hogsmead, the village just outside of Hogwarts's grounds. Harry and Hermione found an empty compartment and settled in for the long ride back to King's Cross, and Harry could not have felt happier.

"So what do you want to do when we get to my house?" Hermione asked

"I don't know. I've never spent any time in a house doing things that I particularly enjoyed." He said, saddened at the thought of the Dursleys

"Come on, there has to be _something_ that you have wanted to do all these years above everything else."

"Well, actually, there is. If you wouldn't mind, could we watch a movie? I've never actually seen one."

"Of course! I know just the movie to watch!"

"What is it?"

"Have you ever heard of Star Wars?"

"I've heard of it. Isn't it a movie about space battles and stuff?"

"It is so much more than that, trust me."

And so they spent the rest of the ride continuing to talk about things. Even though they had been friends for months, they talked about everything from something as simple as favorite colors to things as complicated as their home life was like. When Harry stepped off of the train, Harry saw Hermione's parents right away. He could tell because her mother had the same bushy, brown hair, while her father had her chocolate colored eyes.

"Hermione!" Her mother squealed

Hermione ran forward and began to hug her parents. This had been the longest that she had gone without seeing them, and she was excited to finally be back with them. After she was done hugging her parents, she turned around and saw that Harry was standing off to the side, looking a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Harry. Mum, Dad, this is Harry." She said, pulling on Harry's arm a little bit

"Ah, so this is the famous Harry Potter we are hearing so much about. You seem to be the topic of most of the owls that Hermione sends home." Hermione's mum said

At this, the twelve year old girl turned a deep shade of scarlet. That was one of the things that she had not told Harry. She wrote home about him quite often, to the point where her parents thought that she was beginning to like Harry as more than a friend, despite her age.

"It's nice to meet you, son." Hermione's dad said

"It's nice to meet you, too, sir." Harry said

"'Sir' was my father. Please, call me Dan."

After they were done greeting each other, Hermione's parents led the way to the car while Hermione and Harry pushed their trunks along behind them. When they reached the car outside, they were easily able to fit both of the trunks in the back of the SUV. Once they were all loaded in, it was another hour before they arrived at the Granger home. Once inside, Harry was in awe. The house was the exact opposite from the Dursley's. While their home was filled with formalness and was tidy, this house was full of love and was more on the unorganized side. He fell in love with it immediately.

"Do you need help bringing your trunk up to your room, Harry?" Dan asked

"Yes, please."

Dan picked up the trunk with ease and brought it upstairs and into the guest bedroom. While Dan was putting both of the kid's trunks away, the other three went into the living room and sat down on the large couch.

"So, what do you kids want to do first?" Hermione's mum asked

"Well, I was thinking, since Harry has never actually seen it, we could watch A New Hope?"

Hermione's Mum's eyes went wide. The Star Wars Trilogy was her favorite group of movies, and she could not believe that Harry had never seen any of them. "I'll get the popcorn." She said, leaving the kids to get the movie set up

Ten minutes later, the blinds were drawn and the lights were turned out as they watched the movie. Hermione found Harry's reactions comical, but that was the best part of watching Star Wars with someone who had never seen it before. Two hours later, the movie ended and Harry looked like he had just witnessed the best thing in the world. Both Hermione and her mum could not help themselves from laughing at the awed look on his face.

"Harry, you might want to close your mouth. Flies might make it their home." Hermione said through her giggles

Harry immediately closed his mouth, but she could still see that he was shocked. She made her way over to the DVD player and started to put Empire Strikes Back in when her mum stopped her.

"Let's see what your father is doing before we start the next one."

They all walked across the house to find Dan, and when they found him, he was in the study looking over what appeared to be bills. He appeared to be frustrated about something. Hermione's mum walked over and started to rub his shoulders.

"Dan, we shouldn't worry about his right now. Let's go have some fun with the kids."

"Alright, Emma. I'll be down in a minute." He said in a tired, defeated kind of voice

Together the family went back to the living room and started to watch the second Star Wars movie. Hermione again loved watching Harry's reactions more than watching the actual movie. She had already seen it so many times, that she knew exactly what would happen and when. Again, when the movie was over, Harry had his mouth open.

"So Darth Vader was Luke's father all along?"

"Yeah. The prequels that have been released go more in-depth with the background story. So far, there is only the one movie, Episode One: The Phantom Menace. It shows the origin story of Darth Vader and Obi-Wan. The Episode Two is set to come out next year."

At this news, Harry just looked giddy. Hermione could tell that he had just fallen in love with the series. Imagine his excitement when he was told there was another movie that they had to watch.

"It's the final one in the series." Hermione said

After Return of the Jedi, Harry actually had a look of confusion on his face. "So, the Return of the Jedi wasn't Luke returning in the beginning, it was really Anakin returning to the Light Side of the Force?"

"Y'know, I never thought about it that way. That's an interesting way to think about it." Dan said

"Well, Yoda said it himself that Luke wouldn't be a Jedi until he faced his father as his final test."

After looking at the time, they saw that it was already a little after six o'clock, and the adults started making dinner. It was a simple dinner, just spaghetti and meatballs, but Harry thought it was one of the best things he had ever tasted. He did not know what Emma had put in it, but it was delicious.

"Wow, this is one of the best dinners I've ever had." Harry said

"Thanks, Harry. I don't think your mother would appreciate hearing that, though." Emma said

Harry froze. He looked over at Hermione, who looked pale. She mouthed "I'm so sorry." She had not mentioned that Harry was an orphan to her parents. She figured that Harry did not want that information to be thrown about willy-nilly.

"Um, my parents actually died when I was a baby. I've grown up with my Aunt and Uncle." Harry said quietly

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Harry. I didn't know. I shouldn't have brought up such a sensitive topic for you."

Dinner passed in silence after that. When they were finished, Dan and Emma were left to do the dishes while Hermione and Harry went upstairs to her room. When he entered, he was surprised at how it seemed so… so… un-girly. Harry did not know much, but he knew twelve year old girls usually had posters on their walls, and they usually had girly toys and stuff all over. That was not the case with Hermione. Her room was a sapphire blue, with multiple bookshelves all around. In one corner was a desk with even more books on it. Her bed was next to the door with a small nightstand next to it with, yup you guessed it, another book.

"Wow, Hermione. I don't think you have enough books." Harry said

"I know, I've read all of these so many times. I need to get some new ones." She replied, the sarcasm going right over her head

Harry gave a light chuckle and started looking over at the many books that were covering the shelves. There were books for kids like _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz_ , _Curious George_ , _The Cat in the Hat_ , and _James and the Giant Peach_. Then there were books like _To Kill a Mockingbird_ , _The Catcher in the Rye_ , _The Hobbit_ , and _The Lord of the Flies_. Harry was intrigued by some of these, and wanted to learn more about them. He might even read a few during his time at the Granger's. But then Harry saw some that looked like they were entire encyclopedias.

"Hermione, how do you find the time to read all of this?" He asked

"You know that I didn't any friends before you, Harry. All I did was spend time with my parents or read." She said

Harry felt guilty for asking her. He had honestly forgotten that she had not had friends before Hogwarts. He had forgotten that _he_ had no friends before Hogwarts. That was how well life was going since he had left the Dursley's. Trying to stay off of the topic of their lives before September First, they talked until Dan came in and told them that it was time for them to go to bed. Harry left Hermione's room and went into his own. He soon fell into a sleep filled with peaceful dreams.

 **December Twenty-Fifth, 9:00 AM**

Harry was awoken on Christmas morning by a very frantic girl with bushy hair bursting into his room and started to shake him awake.

"Harry, get up! C'mon, we have presents to open!" She said before dashing out of his room

' _That girl is crazy for Christmas._ ' Harry thought, getting out of bed

He walked out into the living room and waited for the Grangers. When he saw the presents under the tree, he felt kind of sad; because he knew there were probably none there for him. After all, he had already been imposing enough into Dan and Emma's lives, why would they get presents for him too? He was proven wrong when they came down and started to hand out presents. Hermione handed him one that was from her, but he just stared at it without opening it. His eyes started to water, and he just continued to stare at the package.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Emma asked, noticing his reaction

"This is the first Christmas present I've ever gotten." He said

"Haven't your Aunt and Uncle ever gotten you anything?" Dan asked

' _Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. I don't want them to know how crappy my life is at the Dursleys. On the other hand, they can help get me out of there and I can actually be happy for once outside of Hogwarts. I don't know. What should I do?_ '

He looked over at his best friend and gave her a questioning look. She immediately understood what he meant. ' _Should I tell them?_ ' She gave a soft expression in return. ' _Only if you want to._ ' Harry made up his mind and drew in a breath. This was going to be hard for him to get out.

"The most I've ever gotten as a present from my Aunt and Uncle are second-hand clothes from my cousin. They- they practically hate me there. To my Aunt, I'm just a reminder of the sister that she hated, and to my Uncle- to my Uncle, I'm an ungrateful child who was lucky that they took me in. They don't even treat me like I'm- I'm human there. I'm forced to do every chore they can think of, and if I make the slightest mistake, I was b-beaten or sent to my cupboard without f-food. Then there is my c-cousin. I'm constantly being beaten up by him and his friends. It's because of them that I n-never had any friends growing up. Anybody that tried to get close to me was intimidated into b-backing off. It was a godsend when I got my letter t-t-telling me I was able to leave and go to Hogwarts."

By the time that he was finished, he was crying hard, and Hermione moved over to hug him. Her mother was also on the verge of tears, but her father looked murderous. Both of them adored Harry and could not fathom how his relatives could treat their nephew like that.

"Harry, why haven't you told us about this before?" Dan asked

"I didn't want anybody to know. If Uncle Vernon ever found out that I had told anybody, he'd beat me harder than ever before."

"Wait, Vernon? Would that happen to be Vernon Dursley?" Dan asked

"Yes, why?"

"He's a client of ours, along with his wife and son. I had no idea that they were such monsters. They seemed like such nice people." Emma said, speaking for the first time since Harry's revelation

"That's what they do. They make themselves seem as normal as possible. They made me seem like I was the strangest thing in the world, like I should be ashamed of existing."

"Harry, if you don't mind, I want to take you to the Dursley's and have a talk with them. I understand if you don't want to come, but I'll be there with you. Vernon won't hurt you as long as I'm there."

"Ok." Harry said

With Hermione not wanting to leave Harry, the three of them got into the car and were silent for the ten minute car ride to Privet Drive. When they pulled up outside of Number Four, Harry could see that the Dursleys were in the middle of opening presents. Dudley was probably being spoiled, again. Dan walked up to the door and did not bother with the doorbell. He started to bang on the door furiously. When Vernon answered the door, he was surprised to see his dentist there.

"Dan, how nice to see you, Happy Christmas! If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?"

Dan said nothing, just stepped aside to see a distraught Harry with Hermione holding his hand for support. Vernon's face drained of blood immediately at the site of the boy. Vernon Dursley was not as dull of a man as Harry would like to think, and put two and two together when he saw his nephew and Dan's furious face. He knew he was in trouble, big time.

"Would you like to come in?" He asked quietly

Dan did not say anything, he walked into the Dursley's living room, surprising Petunia and Dudley. They both grew scared when they saw the look of pure rage on their dentist's face, and grew even more so when they saw Harry. Dudley was not able to prevent himself from yelling at Harry when he saw his cousin.

"What are you doing here, freak?!"

Harry flinched at these words, having not heard them for almost four months. While they hurt Harry, they continued to fuel Dan's rage. Once Vernon rejoined them, he sat down on an armchair across from the couch and gestured with a shaking hand for Dan and the children to sit. Harry and Hermione did while Dan remained standing.

"Hello, Dan." Petunia said quietly

Dan just held up a hand. "Don't even try to play nice with me, Petunia. Imagine my surprise when I invited Harry to stay with my family for Christmas, and I learned that he had never received a gift from his Aunt and Uncle. Then, imagine my surprise at learning that his Aunt and Uncle were you two. I cannot even begin to express how angry and disappointed in you terrible people. While I'm sure he left a lot of things out, Harry told me how you have mistreated him all these years. How can you people sleep at night knowing what you have done to this child? He's only eleven and he's already seen more horrors than I have!"

The Dursleys stayed silent. They knew what they had done was wrong. But that did not mean that they were going to apologize to Harry for it. They stayed strong in their belief that he was a freak and that Harry was an ungrateful brat. How ironic that their son was the very thing they hated Harry for.

"Dan, this is none of your business. I'm going to have to kindly ask you to leave." Vernon said after remaining silent for five minutes

"This became my business when my daughter's best friend told me that he was being abused. I'm telling the authorities, Dursley. When they see that you're not fit to house Harry, he's going to come with me. I cannot even begin to tell you what a piece of filth you and your wife are." Dan said, before walking towards the door "Come on, kids."

They followed him, and Harry was looking less scared. He was caught up on one of the final things that Dan had said to his Uncle. Dan was going to get him out of the Dursley's, and take him in? That was too good to be true. Living with Hermione and her parents full time would be amazing. When they arrived back at Hermione's house, all three of the Grangers gave Harry hugs. After they had all gotten their emotions under control, they continued to open presents. The presents from school had even managed to find their way to Harry. Hagrid had given Harry what looked like a hand carved flute. When he blew into it, it sounded like an owl. Hermione had gotten him a large box of Chocolate Frogs, something her parents could not approve of as dentists. His last present was an extremely light, silvery gray cloak. With it was a note that read: _Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well. A very Merry Christmas to you._

When Harry put it on, the others in the room gasped. From the neck down, Harry was invisible. He looked down and could not see his body. It was weird because he knew it was there, but he could not see it.

"I've read about those! That's an invisibility cloak!"

"A what?" Harry asked

"An invisibility cloak! It's exactly what it sounds like- a cloak that makes its wearer invisible!"

Harry was amazed at this gift. Who was the anonymous sender? While Harry was pondering this, Dan and Emma were deep in discussion. After a little while, they looked up to Harry, who was still lost in his own thoughts.

"Harry?" Emma asked

"Yes?"

"Dan and I were thinking, how would you like to live here after the mess with the Dursleys is sorted out? I know that you won't have anywhere else to go, and we've already grown so used to you being around, just after a week."

Harry started to get tears in his eyes, but this time, they were happy tears. He could not believe that they wanted him to stick around. They actually wanted to become his legal guardians and wanted to have him live with them.

"I would love to." Harry said

They spent the rest of the day, enjoying their new presents and watching movies with cups of hot cocoa. When Harry went to bed that night, he was unable to fall asleep for a long time, thinking about how his life was about to change forever.

For the next week, Harry and the Grangers had fun introducing Harry to new things and discussing about how they were going to fix Harry's situation with the Dursleys. It was decided that it would be dealt with over the summer holidays. That way, Harry would not be in school for the many court dates. They knew that he would have to be present for a lot of them.

The highlight of Harry's stay at the Granger's was New Year's Eve. When midnight struck, Dan and Emma kissed, and Hermione kissed Harry on the cheek. Harry just rubbed his check and looked at Hermione, who was giving him a sheepish smile. He reached over and brought her into a hug. He could not believe that he had managed to find her. What would his life be like had he not found her outside Platform Nine and Three-Quarters four months ago?

On January Second, they all took the trip to King's Cross, where they said their good-byes at the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten. Both kids were hugged by the adults, and they were all a little teary eyed.

"You'll come back to visit for the spring holiday, right?" Emma asked

"Of course." Hermione and Harry said in unison, making the adults laugh

With some final words of good-bye, Harry and Hermione stepped through the barrier and got onto the Hogwarts Express, taking them back to the school that both of them loved. Harry could not believe that he was going to be back here in just another couple of months. Things were finally starting to look up for him.


	4. Chapter 4

**A.N.: Hey guys, what's up? So this chapter is going to zoom through the rest of the year, going right up until the night they brave going through the trap door. And another thing, I am thinking of adding Ron into the group, making it more like they were the next four Marauders, rather than the Golden Trio. Ron would be more like Peter in the group, but I do not know. Let me know what you guys think. Now, on to answering your reviews.**

 **To Princeskarlita411: We are just going to have to see what happens, what with Dumbledore being a meddling old man. But the Dursleys** _ **will**_ **get what is coming to them, one way or another.**

 **To the anonymous Guest: I know that Harry did not really like Hermione in the beginning of the year, Ron was not as lazy as I make him out to be, and I know that Ron only made a couple comments about being poor. But the thing is, this is called FANFICTION. I can write the story how I want it. If you do not like the way that I write my stories, then you are more than welcome to take your perfected view of how the Harry Potter universe is supposed to work and find a story that better suits your needs.**

 **To Cheryl: The Star Wars movies are up there with some of the best of all time. Their one of my more favorite sagas, and I figured that with Hermione being the bit of a geek that she was, she should introduce Harry to the series. And I agree that Harry needs support from adults, not just Hermione and Neville. We are just going to have to wait and see what Dumbledore does about Harry trying to leave the Dursleys.**

 **To Beyondthesea16: I would not get your hopes too high. Dumbles can be very persuasive when he wants to be. There may be a chance that Harry will be staying at Number 4 this summer after all.**

 **To Riniko22: While they could do that, the Dursleys do not believe that Dan was serious and are not going to take his threat serious. You will see exactly what that means for them in the next couple of chapters.**

 **To knuckles 8: I have a lot of ideas on what Dumbledore is going to do to get in the way of Harry leaving the Dursleys. He is going to have to try anything and everything to keep that boy there.**

 **To madwamoose, Arnold DeVillena, MythStar Black Dragon, Linda, and Vegasman59: Thank you for your opinion on how the chapter was.**

 **So, feel free to leave a review, send a PM, and, of course, enjoy. I await your responses to this chapter. Until next time, OPKILLERFROST, out.**

It had already been a couple weeks since they came back from the holidays, and things were not going good for Harry. First off, he had just learned that Snape would be refereeing the next Quidditch match, Snape was as horrible as ever, Malfoy was constantly making fun of Harry, it seemed like the only good things in his life were Hermione and Neville. Speaking of, the poor boy had just stumbled into the Common Room with his legs stuck together. While everyone was laughing, Hermione muttered the counter-curse and he got back up.

"What happened?" Hermione asked

"Malfoy. I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on." Neville replied, shaking from head to toe

"Go to Professor McGonagall! Report him!"

"I don't want more trouble."

"You've got to stand up to him, Neville! He's used to walking all over people, but there's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier." Harry said

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryfindor, Malfoy's already don't that."

Pulling out his last Chocolate Frog, he gave it to Neville. "You're worth twelve of Malfoy. The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."

"Thanks, Harry" Neville said with a small smile "I think I'll go to bed… D'you want the card, you collect them, don't you?"

Harry looked at the card, and saw that it was Dumbledore. Feeling nostalgic, because this was the first card that he had ever gotten, he turned it over and looked at the back. This surprised Hermione and Neville, who had only just managed to get to the staircase leading to the dormitories.

" _I've found him!_ I've found Flamel! I _told_ you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here- listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in Nineteen Forty-Five, for the discover of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, _and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel!_ "

At this, Hermione jumped up and sprinted to the girl's dormitories. When she came back down, she was holding a large book.

"I never thought to look in here! I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading." She said

" _Light?_ " Both boys asked simultaneously

"Oh be quiet." She said, then continued to mutter to herself, flicking through pages. She kept searching before jumping up triumphantly. "I knew it! I _knew_ it!"

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" Neville asked sarcastically

"Nicolas Flamel is the _only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone_!"

This was great news. They had finally figured out what Fluffy was keeping secret! Now all they had to do was find out why the Stone was here. Why have something as powerful as that locked up in a school full of children? _Wait, which one? The Stone, or Fluffy? Eh, I guess both have no business being in a school._

A few days later was the match against Hufflepuff. If they won today, then Gryffindor would be in the lead to win the Quidditch Cup. Harry was really nervous, and this was only made worse when he heard Fred say that Dumbledore was there watching. This helped Harry a bit. Now he knew that neither Snape nor Quirrell would attempt to attack Harry while Dumbledore was here. _They were not_ that _stupid. I mean, they're teachers after all._ Harry thought.

Meanwhile, up in the stands, a scuffle was breaking out in the stands. Malfoy had thought that it would be a good idea to pick on Hermione and Neville some more. He had walked up to Hermione and forcefully poked her in the back of the head.

"Oh, sorry, Granger, didn't see you there. Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, Weasley?" Draco asked

Ron, who was nearby, turned and saw Malfoy. He started to turn away when Malfoy started talking again.

"Oh, wait, I forgot. You have no money to bet!"

This just made Ron even more furious, but he kept his thoughts to himself. He would not make a scene at the game. But then again, Malfoy just would not shut his mouth.

"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor Quidditch team? It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money- you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."

"I'm worth twelve of you Malfoy."

"Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something."

By now, Ron had run out of patience. "I'm warning you, Malfoy- one more word!"

"Look! Harry!"

Everyone turned towards the boy and saw him diving for something. He was gathering speed, hurtling towards the ground. While they were watching, Malfoy continued to attack the two boys.

"You're in luck, Weasley! Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!"

By now, both boys were fed up with Malfoy and launched at him simultaneously. While Ron started to pound his fist into Malfoy's face, Neville attempted to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handedly. This was not his brightest of ideas, but he was in Gryffindor rather than Ravenclaw, after all. While they were fighting, Hermione was on the edge of her seat. She watched Harry streak past Snape and catch the Snitch. He won the game for Gryffindor!

Back on the ground, he was surrounded by screaming Gryffindors. They were all happy that he had won the game for them in so little time. The game had only lasted about five minutes. He watched as Snape landed nearby, then skulked off to find a puppy to kick. When he felt a hand on his shoulder, Harry turned and saw that Dumbledore himself was standing next to him.

"If you wouldn't mind, Harry, I'd like to meet with you later tonight to discuss some things."

Harry could tell that the Headmaster was not asking. He was just telling Harry in the politest way possible. The boy just nodded, fearing of what would happen when he opened his mouth to speak.

"And you might want to bring Miss Granger as well. I expect she'll like the Lemon Drops in my office."

This confused Harry, but he just merely nodded before the Headmaster walked back to the school. Moments later, he was attacked by a flying Hermione, who wrapped him in a hug. She was so happy that he had managed to win the match. She could care less about the actual match, but she knew that Quidditch was important to Harry and that it made him happy. And when Harry was happy, she was happy, so in turn, she liked it when he won his Quidditch matches. Once everybody had calmed down and Harry had changed out of his Quidditch robes, he headed back up the castle with Hermione. Neville had been taken up there earlier by Hagrid after Crabbe and Goyle had started to mercilessly beat him up.

"Before we go back to Gryffindor Tower, we should go to Dumbledore's office. He said that he wanted to meet with both of us." Harry said

"Did he say what it was about?" Hermione asked, getting scared

"No, he just said that he wanted to meet with both of us later after the match."

"I hope that we're not in trouble. Together, they marched up to the castle, then realized that they did not know how to get to Dumbledore's office. So instead, they went to Professor McGonagall. When they asked, she told them that it was behind the gargoyle on the second floor. When they found it, the saw the gargoyle, but it did not move when Harry asked it to. How were they going to get into the office now?

"Did Dumbledore tell you anything about how to get into his office? Hermione asked

"No, he just said to bring you because you might like the Lemon Drops in-"

He stopped talking because at the mention of the sweet, the gargoyle leapt aside, allowing them to go up into the office.

"Really? His password to his office is 'Lemon Drops'?" Harry asked

With skeptical looks, the two students went up the spiral staircase and knocked on the oak door at the top. When they heard his voice, the two of them entered the office. Dumbledore was sitting behind a large desk, and he did not have the usual twinkle in his eyes.

"Please, sit down, both of you." He said, gesturing to the two chairs sitting opposite him

They did as they were told, and waited for their Headmaster to speak. For what seemed like forever, they all sat in total silence. Then, Dumbledore spoke.

"I must say that I am disappointed in you, Harry. I left you with your Aunt and Uncle eleven years ago because you were the safest with them. To learn that you are planning on not staying there after this school year troubles me deeply."

"But sir, you don't know what kind of abuse that I've had to live under with them. You can't even begin to understand the how horrific those people can be." Harry said, not believing that Dumbledore was even thinking about sending him back to those- those- poor excuses for people.

"Be that as it may, I left you with them for a reason, Harry. For reasons that you can't know yet, you must live at your Aunt's house until you come of age. As long as you call that place home, you must stay there."

"But I don't call that place home! It's never been my home! How can I call that place home when all that happens there is abuse aimed towards me?!"

"Professor, those people treat him like he is less than dirt. How can you possibly send him back to those horrible excuses for human beings?"

"Miss Granger, I do not have to explain any of my reasoning. Just know that Harry is not to leave his Aunt and Uncle's house during the summer holidays."

"But Professor-" Harry started to say

"No, Harry. You are staying with the Dursleys and that is final. Now go back to your Common Room, I do believe that you have some celebrating to do."

Without a word, the two children got out of their seats and walked back to the Common Room. How could Dumbledore force him to go back there? _Wait a minute, he can't._ Just because Dumbledore was one of the most powerful wizards who lived, did not mean that he had to power to govern the way that Harry led his life. If he did not want to live with the Dursleys, who was Dumbledore to tell him no? With those thoughts in his mind, he spent the rest of the night talking with Hermione about how they were going to get through this situation. There just had to be a way around it. It was impossible that Dumbledore could just say no and then that was the way that things had to be. They just would not take no for an answer.

0Oo.-

A few weeks later, the trio made their way into the library to begin studying for the end of year exams. Hermione was going crazy, acting like she was going to get any less than a hundred percent on every single one of her exams. The only thing that prevented him from continuing his work was Neville announcing the arrival of Hagrid.

"Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

"Jus' lookin'. An' what're you lot up ter? Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he was ages ago _and_ we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcer's St-"

" _Shhhhhh!_ Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact. About what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy-" Harry began to say

"SHHHHH! Listen- come an' see me later. I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin' mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here. Students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh-"

"See you later, then." Harry said

After a minute, Neville questioned what he had behind his back, and they discovered that it was something about _dragons_ of all things. Harry knew that Hagrid wanted to have a dragon, but was he really going to get one? It probably was not the brightest of ideas because of the fact that his hut was made out of wood. When they went down to his hut later, they saw that all the curtains were drawn. That was odd, because Hagrid liked to have the windows open. Upon entering the hut, they started to sweat immediately. It had to be at least a hundred and ten degrees in there! **(And for the people who live in countries that determine temperature using Celsius, it would be about 43 degrees.)** Why did Hagrid have to have the heat that high in there? He got their attention on something else when he said that Dumbledore had trusted Professor Quirrell enough to place an enchantment on the Stone. If this was his first year, then why on Earth did Dumbledore trust him enough to protect the stone as opposed to teachers that have been at Hogwarts for more than a decade? It made absolutely no sense. But even Hagrid, who saw the good in most people, was unable to argue against Quirrell.

"Always thought he was a funny feller. Never liked talkin' much, tha' man. And then when he did, it was always with a stu'er. Always soundin' weak an' feeble. I don' trus' that man one bit."

But then something happened that they had not expected. They saw that Hagrid had a large egg in the middle of his fireplace. Harry knew what it was immediately, and was not sure how he felt about Hagrid having a dragon inside his house. After all, one bad sneeze from the creature and Hagrid's home would be up in flames. It made Harry think of the three little pigs, just, y'know, with a dragon and fire instead of a wolf and his breath. That was not even the worst of it. A week later, as they were all watching the egg hatch, Hagrid saw someone peering through the curtains. Harry knew there was no mistaking the white-blond hair of Draco Malfoy as he ran back up to the school. And so they came up with a plan to get rid of the dragon, or Norbert, as Hagrid liked to call him. They talked to Ron, something that they did not generally enjoyed doing. As they talked to him, they realized that there was no way of getting his help without telling him the entire situation. When they were done, he was sworn to secrecy and he started to help them. The following Wednesday, they got their reply from Ron's brother, Charlie, who was studying dragons in Romania. Charlie was going to send some friends to get the dragon from the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday. This was going to be a bit of a challenge.

0Oo.-

Things most certainly did not go according to plan. They got Norbert up to the tower with the help of the Invisibility Cloak, but the trio forgot it on the way back down. This resulted in them having detention along with Malfoy, who thought it would be a good idea to try and catch them with the dragon red-handed. This led them to having detention in the Forbidden Forest. Their job was to find an injured unicorn in there, before it died. Harry split off with Hermione before they had to switch because Malfoy scared Neville. Harry ended up with Draco, and they ended up finding the unicorn, but it was not alone. There was a dark figure that was drinking blood from the throat of the unicorn, and as soon as it looked at Harry, there was an intense pain in his scar. Harry fell to the ground, clutching his forehead to stop the pain. If it were not for the interference of a centaur, the figure would have swept down upon him, and then he would have been in serious trouble then. The centaur pulled Harry onto his back, and another two came charging into the clearing. _Bane and Ronan._ Harry recognized these two from earlier in the night, and could not understand why they were so angry with the centaur Harry was on, Firenze. It was revealed that centaurs thought of themselves as superior to humans, and that most thought that they had more pride than to let a human ride on their back. Then, it was revealed that Firenze believed that the figure under the cloak was none other than Lord Voldypants himself. Before they could continue their conversation, Hermione came barreling through the trees and tackled Harry in a hug.

"Harry! Harry, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. The unicorn's dead, Hagrid. It's in that clearing back there."

"Good luck, Harry Potter. The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times." Firenze said before galloping back into the depths of the forest

When they arrived back at the Common Room, they found that Ron had fallen asleep waiting for them. They were not sure whether they should have been touched or if they should be concerned at the fact that they had asked him for one favor and he suddenly wanted to be their friend. When Harry shook him awake, he shouted something about a Quidditch foul and then sat up.

"Oh, hey! I was wondering when you guys would be back." He said

"Ron, why were you waiting for us?" Hermione asked

"Well, I know that we're not the best of friends, but I've been thinking, and I've thought about how much of a prat that I've been to you three. I felt that I had to say sorry to you guys and that I was hoping that there was the chance that I could still be your friend."

The three of them sat in silence for a few moments, looking at each other. It had taken a little while, but the three of them had perfected the art of having a silent conversation. Eventually, they all came to an agreement.

"Ron, we accept your apology, but we're not quite sure if you should be hanging out with us, because you were a bit of a bully towards Hermione for a while in he beginning of the year." Harry said

"I know." Ron said dejectedly "But I'm trying to do better and be nicer. It's hard because I know that I'm really single-minded about things, but I'm trying to do better. I want to have friends other than Seamus and Dean, who talk about nothing but Quidditch and the Muggle sport of football."

"We're going to give it a shot, but if you start being mean towards any of us, and you're gonna have to go back to being friends with Dean and Seamus full time, got it?"

Ron just nodded his head eagerly, then yawned. "Well, I'm beat. I'm going to head to bed."

The three of them watched him disappear up the staircase and into the boy's dormitories before talking.

"Are we sure that we want him around? I mean, the guy's got an emotional range of a teaspoon!" Neville said

"Neville, I know that he's been a prat, but he is willing to change who he is just to be friends with us. I think that he deserves a chance." Harry said "What do you think, Hermione?"

She seemed to think on her answer for a minute before responding. "I think that Ron is a prat, but everyone deserves to have a friend when they're looking for one. Harry and I know what that feels like first-hand."

Neville just nodded in acceptance, and the three of them headed up to bed. Hermione gave Harry a small hug before she parted with them, making Harry blush. _I guess that Hermione's getting more affectionate. I've never seen this side of her before, not even at Christmas when she was in her comfort zone._ When he got to his bed, he found his Invisibility Cloak mixed in with the sheets with a not. 'Just in Case.' Wondering who brought his Cloak back, Harry drifted off to sleep, hoping that Voldypants wouldn't be trying to steal the Stone anytime soon.

0Oo.-

The next few weeks, they were all swamped as exams were upon them. With Hermione's help, even Ron was able to start getting better grades and pass the finals. Once their final exam was over, the four of them headed outside to sit under the shade of a tree by the Forbidden Forest. While they were watching Fred, George, and Lee Jordan tickle the Giant Squid's tentacles, Harry had a thought. He jumped to his feet and started to make his way towards Hagrid's hut.

"Where're you going?" Ron asked

"I've just thought of something. We've got to go and see Hagrid, now." Harry said

"Why?" Hermione asked

"Don't you think it's a bit odd that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?"

"What are you talking about?" Neville asked, just as confused as Ron and Hermione

When they arrived at Hagrid's hut, he was outside, shelling peas into a very large bowl. "Hullo, finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?" He asked

Ron started to answer when Harry interrupted. "No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"

"Dunno, he wouldn' talk his cloak off." He said, before elaborating "It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head- that's one o' the pubs down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

After questioning Hagrid some more, they discovered that he had told the stranger how to get past Fluffy, while also telling the kids. Hagrid really was not the best person to go to when you wanted to keep a secret. They went inside to find Professor Dumbledore, hoping that he would be able to act upon the information that somebody was likely to steal the Stone. Little did they know that the one person that they were looking for had already left Hogwarts an hour previous to reach the Ministry. When they tried to tell Professor McGonagall instead, they were forced to be quiet about the matter. They were going to have to take matters into their own hands if they wanted to get through the trap door. They themselves were their only hope to saving the Sorcerer's Stone.

0Oo.-

Later that night, they were walking through the Common Room to get to the third floor corridor when they found none other than Parvati Patil in their way.

"Where do you think you four are going?" She asked

"Parvati, we don't have time for this! We need to get going, so move!" Hermione said

"No, I'm not going to let you four lose Gryffindor any more points! We're already in last place, you can't keep hurting us even more!"

"Parvati, I'm really sorry about this. _Petrificus totalus!_ " Hermione said, making Parvati go as stiff as a board before falling backwards

They then walked over her and out into the halls of Hogwarts, moving ever closer to their goal of protecting the Sorcerer's Stone.


	5. Chapter 5

**A.N.: Hey guys, what's up? First off, I want to send out a very special shout out to the asshole who has done nothing but spam reviews about how bad this story is. IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THE STORY THEN STOP READING IT. I AM TIRED OF GETTING AN EMAIL THINKING THAT I GOT A REVIEW FROM SOMEBODY THAT ACTUALLY LIKES MY STORY AND THEN IT IS JUST YOU BEING A DICK. YOU MAY NOT LIKE THE STORY, BUT THE 188 PEOPLE WHO ARE FOLLOWING THE STORY PROBABLY BEG TO DIFFER. Oh, that reminds me. I just wanted to thank all of you who actually do enjoy this story because this is the most popular story that I have ever written. I mean, six and a half thousand reviews in just three weeks? Some of my stories have been up for six months and they do not have even half as many views as that. I just want to make sure you guys know that I appreciate that you guys like my story and read it as much as you guys do. Now, on to answering my favorite kind of people.**

 **To Princesakarlita411: We'll just have to wait and see if they trust Ron. While he has been a prat towards the trio, they are willing to give him a chance to be their friend. It remains to be seen whether or not he will betray that trust.**

 **To ElizabethAnneSoph: I figured that Ron would always be more of a Peter in this group of Marauders. Harry is obviously James, Hermione is more of a Sirius, and Neville is more of a Lupin. It works out kind of perfectly. And yes, our dear Professor Dumbles is going to be oh so disappointed when Harry does not listen.**

 **To Guest: As for the Quirrell one, first off- you spelt his name wrong. Second off- it is my story, I can change whatever the fuck I want about it. To the one you left about chapter 3- the evidence was HARRY. What do you mean "before you have the evidence to back it up"? All Dan needed for that confrontation was HARRY. Everything that you are calling out on my story is being picked apart. First off, you left a review on chapter 4 that I should try for some ORIGINALITY, then you turn around and complain that I am not following canon and making Quirrell not teach there as long as he really did. Make up your fucking mind you bloody muppet.**

 **To Gime'SS: No problem. I noticed that next to people in the USA, the majority of people that read this are from the UK, and I know that they use Celsius rather than Fahrenheit.**

 **To the-elusive-snitch: Yeah, sorry about that. I only went back and fixed one part of the first chapter, but I am going to go back one of these days and fix the rest.**

 **To MythStar Black Dragon, knuckles 8, and Cheryl: Thank you for the reviews. Since I do not have to go to school until Monday, I am going to try to get at least one or two more chapters up before the weekend is over.**

 **Thanks again to everyone who reviewed (except that Guest. You can go fuck yourself) and I hope for more in the future. So, feel free to leave a review, send a PM, and, of course, enjoy. Until next time, OPKILLERFROST, out.**

Now that the four of them were out in the halls, they had to be careful. There were probably teachers waiting around almost every corner. Their main problem was when they ran into Peeves. It was Harry's quick thinking to sound like the Bloody Baron in order to get past him. Eventually, they reached the third floor corridor and removed the cloak.

"Are you guys sure you want to do this? It's not too late to turn back." Harry said

"I'm with you always, Harry." Hermione said

Neville nodded in agreement, and Ron just kind of stood there, waiting to hear what the next part of the plan was. Without a word, Harry opened up the door to the room Fluffy was in and pulled out the flute that Hagrid made him for Christmas. Lifting it to his lips, he began to play a song and Fluffy soon fell asleep. While he was playing, the others made their way to the trap door and opened it up. Harry then gave the flute to Hermione who took over playing the song. Harry sat down and lowered his legs into the trap door.

"If I say that it's not safe, run. Go get Professor McGonagall. Okay?" Harry said

"You'll be fine, Harry. Now get a move on. Quirrell could already have the Stone." Hermione said

"Or Snape." Ron said

"Oh, come on, Ronald! You don't honestly believe that Snape was trying to kill Harry, do you?"

"Well why not? He's been a prat to Harry all year and he was bitten by the dog around Halloween. That seems pretty suspicious to me."

"OH MY GOD! HOW CAN WE EVEN-"

"GUYS! Listen, do you hear that?" Neville asked

It was then that they realized that Fluffy had woken up. Without another thought, the four of them jumped into the trapdoor, falling for a minute before they landed on something soft and squishy. It looked like some sort of vined plant.

"What is this stuff?" Ron asked

Neville, who understood what plants were better than anybody in their year, stopped moving and became as still as Parvati had when hit with the full body bind. Not understanding, Harry tried to talk, but he felt something cold and wet wrap around his arm. He looked down and saw that the vines were _moving._

"Guys, don't move! It's Devils Snare! The more you struggle, the faster it'll kill you! You have to relax!" Neville said

"Oh that's just great!" Ron yelled

After Neville identified the plant, the red head just seemed to struggle even more. Meanwhile, Harry, Neville, and Hermione sank below the plant and landed in a corridor that seemed to end a large room. But they were unable to go on. Ron was still struggling, and the Devil's Snare was just wrapping itself around him faster.

"He's not relaxing." Harry pointed out

"Oh, what was it that Devil's Snare hated… Devil's Snare is deadly fun…" Hermione said

"But will sulk in the sun!" Neville said

Hermione and Neville both pointed their wands upward and yelled " _Lumos solem!_ " Soon afterwards, Ron came crashing to the floor. He got up, brushing himself off.

"Well that was fun." He grumbled

"We _told_ you to relax. If you had just done that, then there would have been no need for us to use that spell!" Hermione yelled

Ron said nothing and just stared at his shoes. Everyone else could tell that the kid was feeling bad for not listening to them, there was no need to rub it in. Pulling on her arm, Harry led the way into the next room, hoping that there were not too many obstacles in the way of their path to the Stone. But of course there were. They entered a room that was full of small, glittering birds and- wait, _glittering birds_? Upon closer inspection they were actually keys that had wings attached to the back. How were they going to find the right key in the sea of a million?

"It's going to be big and brass, just like the door knob!" Hermione said

Immediately they started to look around, trying to find the key in question, but it was impossible with the hundreds of keys flying around. Harry checked the room, trying to find something to get past the door and find the key. He found it in the form of a broom. Harry got on it and started to fly around. Unfortunately, as soon as he took to the air, the keys went into a frenzy. Trying to fly through them, he was scratched and cut by the various flying keys. Eventually, he found what he was looking for. He started to chase it around the room like it was a Snitch and he was a Seeker. Well, he _was_ a Seeker, but the key was not a Snitch. But, y'know, same principle. It took a couple minutes, but Harry finally managed to grab the key. The downside to that, the keys went from a chaotic frenzy, to a chaotic frenzy hell-bent on cutting Harry into pieces.

"Hermione! Catch!"

Somehow, do not ask him how, he threw the key towards Hermione and she actually caught it. Stuffing it into the key hole, she unlocked the door and everybody ran through it. Not slowing down in the slightest, Harry flew straight through the open doorway and into the next room. He heard the door slam behind him, but he could not see who closed it because at that moment, he was clotheslined by something _really_ hard. He flew off the broom and landed on what felt like a cold stone floor.

"Harry! Harry, are you okay?"

He looked up to see Hermione looking down at him with a worried expression. He got up off the ground and groaned as he felt a familiar pain in his ribs. Some of them were definitely cracked. Holding a hand to his ribs, he straightened his back and looked around. They were in a large room and there were multiple stone statues scattered all around the room, except for in the middle. In the middle of the room, there were two rows of statues, and about thirty feet away, there were two more rows of statues. Wait a second, are those-

"Merlin's beard… it's a chess board!" Ron said

He was right. As they walked up to the board, torches ignited, showing the pieces in greater detail than before. What were they supposed to do? Play the game? They stepped onto the board and tried to walk across it, but when they reached the white pieces' pawns, they drew swords and created a barricade that prevented them from moving any farther forward. Somehow, there had to be a way forward.

"Guys, I think we have to play a game." Neville said

"Why?" Hermione asked

"No, he's right. There's pieces missing from the black side. See?" Ron said, pointing to the missing spots

"So what are we going to do? Play a game of chess while Quirrell steals the Stone?" Harry practically yelled

"Harry, it is the only way to get to him! If we don't do this, then he gets away with the stone and You-Know-Who comes back!" Hermione said

He did not look happy about it, but walked back to the other side of the board. Looking around, there were four empty spaces. Apparently, only Ron knew what to do. He took complete control, telling the others to take the spots of the missing pieces. Harry was a bishop, Hermione was a rook, and Neville was a pawn. And so they played, Ron taking point in telling the pieces where to go. It took a while, which was not making Harry happy, but eventually, they reached an impasse. There was no other way to win the game except for Ron and Neville to be sacrificed. Only then would Harry be able to take the king. They had to let it happen, or else there was no way to win the game. Neville moved forward which allowed the king to move and take him. Unfortunately, that resulted in him being hit by the king's sword. Ron then moved right next to the king, and was taken too. The horse Ron had been riding was destroyed, sending Ron to the ground amidst a pile of rubble. Looking over towards Hermione, he saw that she wanted to go over and help Neville, but if she did that, the game would have been for nothing. So Harry did what was natural. He took the king.

"Checkmate."

The king dropped the sword, which Harry could have sworn had blood on it. Without another beat, Harry and Hermione raced towards the next door, hoping to stop Quirrell in time for them to save Neville- oh and Ron too. In the next room, there was a large, smelly troll that was unconscious. Who knows? It might have been the same troll that was lurking in the halls during Halloween. Moving past it, mainly to get to the Stone, but also to escape the horrible stench, they entered the next room. As soon as the door closed behind them, purple flames shot up in the doorway. On the other side of the room, black flames stood in the way of the other door. In front of them was a table with seven differently shaped bottles on it. Apparently, one bottle would send them forward, another backwards, three of them would kill them, and the other two were just wine. Both Harry and Hermione tried to figure it out, and Harry came to the answer only slightly after Hermione. The second from the left and right were the wine, the bottles to their immediate left were poison, along with the one in the middle. The one at the right end would send them back, and the third from the left would send them forward.

"Here." Hermione said, handing him the one that would take him forward, meanwhile, she held the one to go backwards in her other hand.

"Hermione, come with me? Please? I don't know if I can face off against Voldemort. He's the man that killed my parents. I only got lucky last time. What happens if I don't get as lucky today?"

Not even hesitating, she put the bottle down and nodded her head. Harry raised the bottle in his hand to his lips, and drank. Once half of it was gone, he handed the bottle to Hermione, who drank the rest. Together, they both headed through the door into the unknown. On the other side, it was not as dramatic as they thought it would have been. They had been expected Quirrell to be standing side by side with Voldemort, the Sorcerer's Stone in hand. Instead, all they saw was their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor standing in front of a mirror. Walking down a set of stairs, they stopped behind Quirrell.

"You." Harry said, unsurprised

"Me." Quirrell said smugly "I wondered whether- wait, you're not surprised?"

"No, not really."

"But, what about Snape?"

"What about him?"

"I would have thought that you suspected him. _He_ was the one who hated you. _He_ was the one bitten by the dog at Halloween. _He_ was the one who-"

"Saved me during my first Quidditch match."

"That is the only piece of evidence that you have to support your thoughts that he was the one trying to save the Stone, and not me?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"But that makes no sense!"

And so they spent the next five minutes arguing over the fact that they never suspected Snape and suspected Quirrell. That was, until they all heard a whisper rush through the air.

" _Silence you fool. Deal with them both, then find the Stone! I am done with you being a simpleton!_ "

"As you wish my lord."

Without saying a word, ropes shot out and bound both Harry and Hermione. They watched as their professor studied the mirror for a while before another whisper rang through the room.

" _Use the boy_."

With a snap of his fingers, Harry was unbound and was forced to move forwards towards the mirror. When he looked into it, he saw himself taking the Stone and putting it in his pocket. He suddenly felt that same pocket grow heavy, and knew that the Stone was now resting inside of it.

"What do you see, Potter?"

Trying to find a lie to tell, Harry saw an inscription on the edge of the mirror. It did not make any sense, for it was all just a jumble of letters. _That's because it's backwards!_ Now that he realized this, he read it how it should be. "I show not your face but your heart's desire." What was the one thing that Harry wanted more in the world? To have a proper home. How he thought of all that in the span of two seconds, he would never know, but his answer came quick.

"I see myself with Hermione, and her parents. We're all living together, like a family." Harry said softly

" _He lies. Let me speak to him. Face to face._ "

"Master, you're not strong enough!"

" _I am strong enough for this._ "

After that, the turban came off and Harry came face to face with Lord Voldypants himself. For having such a terrible reputation, the man's face seemed to match it. It was stark white, had red eyes with slits, like a snake. Then there was the nose- or lack of one. It was just two slits in the middle of the face. It was kind of sickening to look upon, like somebody had a horrible accident in a fire, or an explosion. After a small chit-chat with Voldemort, parts at which Harry yelled at the monster in front of him, parts where Ol' No-Nose yelled back, it was a fun time. Right up until it was decided that Harry would have to die. Quirrell tried to grab at Harry, why he would do that when he had a wand, nobody would ever know, abut he pulled his hand away. It was covered in boils. Harry intended to continue touching Quirrell- ew, not like that, get your minds out of the gutter- but Hermione called out to him.

"Harry, point your wand at him and saw _Stupefy_!"

Not sure why, he listened, and hit Quirrell with a jet of red light. Quirrell went flying back, crashing into the wall with a sickening crack and hit the floor. Harry turned back to Hermione, and saw that the ropes were unbinding themselves. They ran towards each other and gave each other a hug, but before they could embrace for long, it seemed as though a dark mist was swirling above Quirrell's body. Before either child could react, the mist surged forward, hitting both of them. They soon fell unconscious and hit the floor, arms still around each other.

0Oo.-

When Harry woke up, something gold was sitting right in front of his face. At first, he thought it was a Snitch, but after looking closer, he saw that it was a pair of glasses. A pair of glasses attached to the face of Albus Dumbledore.

"Ah, Harry. I was beginning to wonder when you were going to wake up. Good afternoon."

Harry sat bolt upright. What had happened after they defeated Quirrell? What happened to the Stone? More importantly, what happened to Hermione?

"Relax, Harry, everything is fine. You are in the Hospital Wing, along with Miss Granger." Dumbledore said, gesturing to the bed beside Harry

At the sight of his best friend, he relaxed. She actually looked kind of cute as she slept, mouth slightly open, hair a mess around her face. Turning back to Dumbledore, he just felt his questions grow.

"Sir, what happened to Quirrell? And what about the Stone?"

"Well, as to Quirrell, I am afraid that the man died. It appeared as though something hard hit him in the back of the head, cracking his skull."

"Hermione told me to use a spell. I didn't think it would kill him." Harry said, scared at the prospect that he had taken a life, even if it was to save his own

"What was the spell, Harry?"

"She told me to point my wand at him and say _Stupefy_. He went flying back and hit the wall, but I thought that he just fell unconscious."

"I am sorry that you had to kill him to save yours and Miss Granger's life. I cannot say that I know what it's like to take a life, so I cannot say I know what it is you are going through. But as to the Stone, it was destroyed hours after you saved it."

" _What?_ "

"Yes. I met with Nicolas and we agreed that it was in everyone's best interest that the Stone was destroyed."

"So we saved it for nothing?"

"My dear, Harry, you saved it for everything! If it weren't for your friend's and your actions three nights ago, then Voldemort would be walking among us today."

It took Harry a minute to process this information. He had been in the Hospital Wing for three days… they had saved the Stone… the Stone was destroyed… Hermione was fine… he was fine.

"Perhaps a Chocolate Frog could help ease your mind?" Dumbledore asked, the sweet in his hand

Looking at the foot of his bed, he saw a pile of sweets and other gifts sitting on a table. A smaller mound of gifts was sitting at the foot of Hermione's bed. How had he not noticed that before? It even seemed that there was a toilet seat among the gifts.

"I do believe it was Misters Fred and George Weasley who sent the toilet seat along."

Harry remembered something from back in September, while they were waiting on the Hogwarts express. The Weasleys were standing just outside their compartment saying their good-byes when one of the twins said that they would send their younger sister a toilet seat. Harry guessed that they knew that Harry had overheard the joke, otherwise they would not have bothered sending it to him. Harry chuckled at the twins' sense of humor, then looked back at Dumbledore.

"So what happens now?"

"Well, tonight will be the end-of-term feast, and then you will board the Hogwarts Express, bound for the journey back to your home with your Aunt and Uncle."

"But it's not my home. How can I call that horrible place home? I've only _just_ moved out from under the cupboard under the stairs! I'm probably going to be whipped and beaten just for coming here!"

"Harry, I am sure you are exaggerating. I left you with your Aunt and Uncle because as long as you call their house your home, you cannot be harmed there."

"But that's the thing! I've never thought of that place as my home! I've only thought of it as the place where I lived the most pitiful existence on the face of the planet! Do I have to show you the scars to prove to you that they beat me?"

"Harry, you need to calm down. The only scars you have on your body are the ones given to you last night. I will not hear another word of this. You are going back to the protection of your Aunt's home and that is final." Dumbledore finished in a tone with a voice that could say that he did not want to talk about it any longer

"No, it's not final! Who the bloody hell are you to tell me where I can and can't live? Last I checked, all you were to me was the headmaster at the school I attend! You're not my parents, or even my guardian! You don't have the right to make these kind of decisions for me!"

"Harry, I know what's best for you! Why can't you see that? I'm trying to keep you safe from harm! The only way to do that is staying within the protection of your Aunt's home. You can only stay safe by remaining in her house and calling it home!"

"Well that's the problem! I DON'T CALL IT HOME! IT HAS NEVER BEEN HOME TO ME! THE ONLY PLACE THAT EVER FELT LIKE HOME WAS HERMIONE'S HOUSE OVER THE WINTER HOLIDAYS!"

This just shocked Dumbledore into silence. Never had a student raised their voice to him like that. He did not quite know how to react to it. Should he reprimand Harry, or try to see it from his point of view? No, he should be reprimanded. Under no circumstance should a student raise their voice to the headmaster. Plus, why should he see it from the way Harry was looking at it? What did the boy know? He was only eleven after all.

"I will not have you yell at me like I am someone that will actually give in to your demands. Just because you are the Boy Who Lived does not mean that everyone will bow down to your will, Mr. Potter. You are still a student here and I will not listen to you take that kind of tone with me. You are going back to your Aunt's house, and that is the last I will hear of it. You do not know what is best for yourself, you are only eleven. I am over a century old and have more experience than you can possibly imagine. The time is over where you think you can try to get your way with me."

This just left Harry wondering what the bloody hell Dumbledore was talking about. He was not trying to get Dumbledore to do what he wanted because he was the Boy Who Lived, he was doing it because he was trying to stop the beatings he received at the hands of the Dursleys. But now that Harry knew where the headmaster stood on the subject, after trying to reason with him multiple times, it was time to say screw it. He did not have to listen to Dumbledore outside of Hogwarts if he did not want to. IT was his life to live and Harry was going to make sure that he was going to be able to live it for longer than just a couple more months. Gone were the days where Harry stood idly by and watched people control him. It was time that he took charge of his life. That all started with leaving the Dursleys.


	6. Chapter 6

**A.N.: Hey guys, what's up? So now that the Stone was saved, it is time for the long awaited summer where Harry finally takes charge with his life. Time to see exactly what Dumbledore does to stop Harry and what Harry does to defy Dumbledore. But for now, I shall answer your reviews.**

 **To Talon Blu: I figured that I would just yell, or rather, type in all caps at the Guest because I did not appreciate him saying my story was bad when writing this is one of the few things I actually enjoy doing. And sorry, I have always done the Author's Notes at the beginning, so that is not going to change anytime soon.**

 **To Riniko22: It is all part of the plan. Dumbledouche is going to do a lot of things to stop Harry, and Harry is just going to have to find a way to get around it.**

 **To Arnold DeVillena: You and me both.**

 **To knuckles 8: Well we all know that Dumbledore is not the smartest person alive, I think Hermione is living testament to that, and Harry had to take a stand at some point. If not now, then sometime in the near future.**

 **To ElizabethAnneSoph: The protection around Privet Drive has never worked, that was why Harry was able to be beaten by his Uncle. If it had worked, then Vernon would never have been able to lay a hand on Harry.**

 **To pottersparky: I do not really like the idea of Harry blackmailing Dumbledore. It just does not sit right with me. But some way or another, Harry will eventually get out of the reach of the Dursleys.**

 **To Philosophize: Thanks for the advice. I will definitely be putting it to good use in the future. Truth be told, that is some of the reasons why I stopped reading other people's stories.**

 **To TrickFarruner: Thanks for the review. I made Sorcerer's Stone that short, because other than changing who Harry is friends with and some other minor things, there are not that many things I can do to change the plot. Also, I mentioned in Chapter Two that I changed from when the story actually took place in the 90's to the 2000's. And as to the criticism, I can take it just fine. It is when somebody comes on here and starts to tell me things about the story that make no sense. First them telling me I am not following canon enough, and then them telling me that I need some originality? It made no sense. I do not appreciate someone picking apart my story for everything that they do not like about it. I do not do it to other people's stories, I just stop reading and find a better story. The reviews that they left were not just negative, they were trying to undermine me as a writer. They were not trying to help me get better, it was like they were trying to make me lose my confidence.**

 **To Beyondthesea16: I know that the Dursleys will have to give up guardianship or else the Grangers would be charged with kidnapping. There will be a way to fix this soon enough, in this chapter, actually. Read on to find out what it is.**

 **To MythStar Black Dragon, starboy454, Princesakarlita411, Calla Lily Potter, Cheryl, kissandtell126, , and Imorena: Thank you for the reviews. You guys are all going to find out just what it is that Dumbledore is planning and what is going to happen to him and Harry in the next couple of chapters.**

 **Oh, one more thing, there are gonna be some spoilers to Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, so if you have never seen the movie (which is horrible- the fact that you have never seen the movie- the movie is great) then you should probably avoid that part of the chapter. Other than that, I have nothing else to announce. So, feel free to leave a review, send a PM, and, of course, enjoy. Until next time, OPKILLERFROST, out.**

Harry was finally allowed to leave the Hospital Wing that night. Madam Pomfrey could not see anything wrong with him, so she had no reason to keep him there. When he walked into the Great Hall, everybody stopped talking at once, and then started talking louder than before. Ignoring their conversations along with the green and silver banners hanging all over the Great Hall, he made his way over to the Gryffindor Table and sat down in between Neville and Hermione. Ron was across from them, still sporting a black eye from when the king had knocked him off of his horse.

"You guys okay?" He asked

"Yeah, we're good. I had some cracked ribs from where the king hit me, but other than that, I'm good. All that was wrong with Ron was he was hit in the head with a piece of his horse. I woke in the Hospital Wing the morning after. Hermione was a real mess next to your bed, Harry. She wouldn't leave until Dumbledore practically ordered her to get up and leave so he could talk to you." Neville said

"Yeah, well, I'd rather wake up to see Hermione than wake up and see him standing over me. You know, he's still trying to make me go back to my Aunt and Uncle's house this summer. If they show up at King's Cross tomorrow, then I'm telling them to piss off. I'd rather go home with Hermione and her parents than go back to that godforsaken place."

"I know my parents have already set up the guest room for you. Well, really it's your room now." Hermione said

"Thanks again, Hermione. You've really done so much to help me."

"Anything for you, Harry."

Before they could continue talking, however, Dumbledore walked in and started to make announcements. Apparently, there were last minute points to hand out.

"First- to Mister Neville Longbottom, for being able to keep cool in a situation that would make a grown man cower, I award Gryffindor House forty points."

The Gryffindor table started to clap and cheer, some people patting Neville on the back. They were starting to see him as more than just the boy who messes up in Potions or the boy that fell of his broom during the first flying lesson.

"Second- to Mister Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor House forty points.

The cheering coming from the Gryffindors was louder now. They were now in third place for the House Cup!

"Third- to Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor House forty points."

Everybody was going crazy at the Gryffindor Table. They were now in second place! All they needed was for Dumbledore to give out at least forty-one more points and they would win!

"Fourth- to Mister Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor House forty points."

Everybody was too stunned now to even celebrate. They were now _tied_ with Slytherin for the House Cup. What were they going to do? Would there be a duel of some kind? Would Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape have to play a game of rock, paper, scissors?

"And finally- to Miss Parvati Patil. It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but it takes a lot more to stand up to people that you respect. I award Gryffindor House ten points."

It was all-out pandemonium at the Gryffindor Table. They had done it! They had beaten Slytherin and taken the House Cup! Before he could start celebrating, Harry caught a glare from Dumbledore. It seemed like he was trying to silently communicate with him. _Does he really think that just because he gave Gryffindor House the necessary points to win the Cup, that I'm suddenly just going to go along with the idea of me living at the Dursleys?_ What happened next frightened Harry: Dumbledore _nodded_. It was like he could read Harry's mind, that he knew exactly what he was thinking. Unable to celebrate with everyone else, Harry stayed seated and began to think about what was happening this summer. He had to get away from the Dursleys this summer, regardless of what Dumbledore said. And so the rest of the feast carried on before they all were sent to bed that night. When they woke in the morning, they went straight down to the Hogwarts Express and sat talking about the past year. Ron did not have much to contribute to the conversation, because of the fact that the most interesting thing that he did before becoming friends with the trio was hung upside down by his ankle when Peeves set a trap for any "ickle-firsties" that happened to walk by. By the time that they arrived back in London, it was already four in the evening, and everybody was ready to get off the train. When they were finally allowed to leave the Platform, Harry started to feel sad. He would have to go back to the Dursleys before Dan and Emma could get him out of there. When Harry looked around, he saw his Uncle standing as far away as possible from Dan. He guessed that his Uncle had not forgotten what had happened on Christmas morning. Already knowing that a beating was coming his way, he figured that he might as well prolong the time between now and then, so he walked with Hermione over to Dan and Emma.

"Hermione! Harry! How are you?" Emma asked

"I'm a lot better now than what I'm going to be when I get back to my Uncle's house." Harry muttered

"I'm sorry we can't get you out of there right away, Harry. We promise that we are calling child services almost immediately once we get home."

Harry just nodded, gave Hermione a hug good-bye, and walked over to where his Uncle was standing. He could already see the evil glint in the older man's eye, which just told Harry that he had something particularly nasty coming his way. Not a word was spoken between the time when Harry met his Uncle to the time when he got home. He was even allowed to put his trunk away upstairs. Maybe his Uncle was not going to beat him after all? Harry was about to breathe a sigh of relief when Vernon burst into the room, belt in hand. Before Harry could turn around, the belt had been cracked against his back. Falling to the ground, tears in his eyes, Harry heard the grunt telling him another blow was soon to follow. After another ten strikes, his Uncle decided that freaks like him did not need to wear clothes while being punished, and forced Harry to remove his shirt. That was when Vernon decided to use the buckle to hit Harry with. Ten minutes later, the belt was thrown aside as Vernon decided that his fist was as good a weapon as any. He began to pound into Harry's ribs, not stopping until he saw that they were heavily bruised. The abuse did not stop there. Vernon yank Harry around by his arm, twisting it so far that it caused a spiral fracture. Not paying attention to Harry's cry of pain, Vernon started to turn his attention to Harry's face. Grabbing his throat, he began to land blows to Harry's face, only making it worse by the fact he still had his glasses on. By the time that Vernon was done, Harry's face was so bruised and bloody, the only way anybody would recognize him was his black hair and green eyes. His glasses lay around his head in broken pieces, his throat was bruised, his arm was jutting out at an odd angle, his ribs were bruised and broken, and his back had even more scars to add to the lattice. But Vernon still was not done. He left the room and soon came back with one of Dudley's aluminum baseball bats. He walked over to Harry and delivered several blows to each knee, ensuring that Harry would be unable to get to his desk to write to any of his freakish friends. Leaving Harry on the floor, Vernon went downstairs, washed his hands free of the freak's blood, and sat down to have a nice home-cooked meal with his lovely wife and perfect son.

0Oo.-

Two days later, and Harry was still on the floor, drifting in and out of consciousness. He tried to cry, but his throat was still bruised from where Vernon had grabbed him. Even though his head had taken a beating, his hearing still worked and was so happy when he heard his guardian angel come to his rescue.

"Hello, my name is Samantha Davis, and I work for Child Protective Services. I assume that you have already met Dan and Hermione?"

"Y- yes. We have made their acquaintance before."

"Well, they came to us in person because they had an urgent matter regarding the welfare of a child under your guardianship."

"Dudley? We would never hurt Dudley! He's our only boy!"

"No, not your son. Harry Potter is the one in question. Dan and Hermione came in saying that they have reason to believe that Harry has been abused while staying here. Would we be able to speak to him?"

"No, I'm sorry. He's out with some friends right now."

"What friends? His only friends are me and Neville, and neither of us live close by." Hermione said

"How do you know? He could have just been lying to get your attention. It's a habit of his."

"Then you wouldn't object to me going to his room? If he's not there, then there shouldn't be any problems."

"No, I will not have you going to his room."

"Why not, Petunia? Something up there you don't want us to see?"

"No, but you are- HEY!"

He heard the thudding of feet on the stairs, and then a couple seconds later, he saw a blurry shape burst into his room.

"HARRY!"

He saw the shape approach and start to cradle his head before he lost consciousness again.

When he woke up, he was in a completely different room. This one was white, smelled like hand sanitizer, and was filled with a high pitched beeping noise. Where was he? The Dursleys did not do something with him, did they? He heard the beeping sound get faster as his panic increased. He looked over and saw an EKG. Why was there an EKG in the room? Before he had time to think more on it, he heard the door open. He looked over and saw a familiar head of bushy brown hair walk in.

"Harry!"

Next thing he knew, he was being assaulted under a hug from Hermione. _Not a bad way to wake up._ The only downside was that Hermione was starting to squeeze him a little too hard for his ribs to handle.

"Ow- Hermione- my ribs." He gasped

"OhmygodHarryI'msosorry." She said at the speed of light and pulling away from him

"Where am I?"

"You're at the hospital. We came by with the social worker to come get you out of there, but when I found you, your face was so bloody I wouldn't have recognized you if you weren't my best friend."

"I took quite the pounding when I got back there. My Uncle did all because of what happened at Christmas."

"Hey Harry."

Harry looked over and saw that Neville was standing there with who Harry assumed was his grandmother. Next to them was an unfamiliar woman, but he knew that she was a witch as well. She just screamed that she was trying to blend into a society she did not belong to.

"Harry, this is my grandmother and our family Healer. Hermione wrote to me telling that you were badly hurt, and that the muggles wouldn't be able to fix you. I practically begged Grandmother to let us come help you."

"And I'm glad you did, Neville. I'm proud of you for wanting to help your friend." His grandmother said

Neville just blushed and the Healer stepped forward and started to examine Harry's injuries. It was determined that with magic and potions, Harry would only have to stay in the hospital for a night. They would just use a confundus charm to make the doctors think that his wounds had not healed overnight. It was going to be a painful process, but if it healed Harry completely, then it was going to be worth it.

0Oo.-

One month later, Harry was at the Granger house enjoying his new home. It had taken a little while, but they had finally gained custody of Harry, and he was now living with them. He was loving life with them and still could not believe that he would never have to return to the Dursleys again. It was best time of his life. For the first time in his life, he was excited about the fact that his birthday was approaching. He was told that the Grangers would take him shopping to get him new clothes that were actually his. That was one of his favorite parts about his new life: no more rolling sleeves fifteen times before they reached his wrists. It was like Christmas all over again. Harry's favorite part was being assaulted by Hermione's hugs every morning. Nothing was quite like waking up to see a bushy haired bullet crushing you in a hug as soon as you wake up.

The day of his birthday, Harry woke up to his usual crushing hug from Hermione. It took him making loud gasps of air for her to finally pull away from him.

"Happy Birthday, Harry." She said

"Thanks, Hermione. Y'know, I just realized that's the first time that someone has actually said that to me."

She gave him another hug before running out of the room to go get ready for the day. Once Harry was dressed for the day, he went downstairs to the kitchen and was met with the smell of a delicious breakfast. Pancakes, bacon, and toast: Harry's favorite. When he got to the kitchen, Emma embraced him in a hug. When he first started living with the Grangers, Harry would stiffen whenever someone other than Hermione would give him a hug, but after a month of being hugged every morning, he was growing used to it.

"Happy Birthday, Harry." Dan said from where he stood at the stove.

"Thanks. Breakfast smells delicious."

"Well, it is your favorite." Hermione said, entering the room

The four of them ate in relative silence, only broken by the sounds of Harry eating his favorite breakfast in the entire world. Not even Hogwarts could top Dan's pancakes, and that was saying something. Once everyone was done eating, they put their plates in the sink and gathered together to go over the gameplan for the day.

"So we'll go to Harrods, get Harry his clothes, then we'll head over and see Attack of the Clones, sound good?" Dan said

They were all excited to see the sequel to The Phantom Menace. They had bought it on DVD when Harry came home with them, and were all captivated to see the origins of Darth Vader and Ben Kenobi. Once everyone was ready to leave, they headed out to the store to get Harry an entirely new wardrobe. He was going to need a little of everything. And so they spent the next three hours having Harry try on new clothes, pick out shirts and pants that he liked, and deciding what to buy and what to put back. Even though any other twelve year old boy would hate going through this, Harry never had a family that cared enough to get him clothes like this, so he was going to enjoy this as much as he possibly could. When they were finally done with clothes shopping, they paid for the clothes and headed over to the theater to see the second episode (technically the fifth movie) of the Star Wars series. They were all captivated by the new events in the movie. It took place about ten years after Episode I, and things were getting a lot more dramatic. Mandalorian bounty hunters, a clone army, Separatist droid factories, it was all amazing. When the movie was over two hours later, they all had their mouths hanging open. They loved the series and could not wait to see the final part of the series. They knew that there had to be one more movie that would bridge the gap between what happened at the end of Episode II and what would happen at the start of Episode IV.

"So what did you guys think?" Dan asked as they exited the theater

"It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I like how it is showing the character development of Anakin as he travels down the path of the Dark Side. Remember how in Phantom Menace, Yoda said that fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering? I think that each of the three prequels are going to show Anakin going down that path. The first movie was fear, this one was anger, next movie is going to be hate, and we all know that he suffers as Darth Vader." Harry said

"Kid, you analyze these movies way too much. I think that you're starting to rival Hermione." Emma said

They all shared a laugh and went home for dinner that night. Because they filled up on popcorn and snacks at the theater, they had the light dinner of mac-and-cheese. Afterwards, they pulled a cake out of the freezer. Turns out, it had ice cream in it.

"Y'know, for dentists, you guys sure are giving us a lot of sweets today." Harry said

"Well it's your birthday. Unless you'd rather us take the cake back?" Emma said in a playful tone

"Hey, I was just pointing out a fact, I never said I was complaining."

After the ice cream cake, they opened the presents from everybody. Hermione got him a book all about Quidditch, which he loved. Dan and Emma's presents were the clothes they bought him earlier, and he was not about to start complaining that he got clothes for a present. Neville got him a special kind of plant that when exposed to moonlight, started to glow. After opening his presents, it was late, and everyone was tired. They went up to bed, but when Harry walked into his room, there was a strange creature sitting on top of his blanket.

"Who are you?" Harry asked, wondering why it was in his room

The creature was short, only about three feet tall. It had elf-like ears, and a long, pointed nose. Then there were the eyes. They were the size of tennis balls, and bright green. The only thing that it was wearing was what looked like an old, battered pillowcase that had the arm and neck holes cut out. It had to be, without a doubt, the strangest creature that Harry had ever seen. He watched as it got off of his bed and bowed so low, his nose touched the floor.

"I is Dobby, sir. I is here to deliver a message to the great Harry Potter!"

"What kind of message?"

"Dobby cannot say. He is bound by his family to never reveal their secrets. Dobby should not even be here, he will have to close his fingers in the oven when he gets home, for sure."

"I'm sorry, I don't want to cause you any unnecessary pain."

At this, Dobby started to wail. "I have heard stories of your greatness, Harry Potter, but not of your goodness."

"Maybe you should sit down?"

This just made Dobby wail even more. Harry was starting to get worried now. What were Dan and Emma thinking he was doing in here? A moment later, Hermione came into the room.

"Harry, are you okay? I heard- oh, hello."

She saw the Dobby sitting on the floor, wiping his nose on the rag that he was wearing.

"Dobby, I understand that you can't tell me exactly what it is, but what are you warning me to do?"

"Is not what you are to do, is what you shouldn't. Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year. His life will be in grave peril! A great danger will be released against the muggle-borns in the castle."

"But I have to go back! I can't just miss a year of Hogwarts!"

"But you must! Harry Potter will be in danger if he goes back! He must stay here with his Grangey and stay safe."

"My Grangey?"

Dobby just pointed at Hermione. Harry understood that Dobby did not know how to say Hermione's last name correctly, so he said it a bit weirdly.

"Dobby, I appreciate the fact that you are trying to help me, but I have to go back to Hogwarts this year."

"Oh, Dobby is going to have to gives himself extra punishments for sure." Dobby muttered

"No, Dobby, don't hurt yourself."

"If Harry Potter will not listen, I will make sure that he does not go back to Hogwarts. Is for his own good!"

With that, the elf vanished into thin air, leaving two very confused twelve year olds behind.


	7. Chapter 7

**A.N.: Hey guys, what's up? The summer is starting to wind down and now the Chamber of Secrets is going to be opened. But before we can get to that, there still has to be a trial for the Dursleys. And before** _ **that**_ **, I have to answer your reviews.**

 **To Gime'SS: I thought that it was a cute way of Dobby saying Hermione's name, especially because Dobby is calling Ron "Wheezy".**

 **To Arnold DeVillena: I have indeed changed my mind and decided to send the Dursleys to Azkaban. I think that it will do them good to live with their worst thoughts and memories just as Harry had to for ten years.**

 **To madwamoose: You will just have to wait and see what will happen in the coming school year.**

 **To Cheryl: I have plans for just how Dobby is going to cause trouble for Harry. There are going to be more than just the Bludger and the gateway to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters not working.**

 **To serenityselena: I have plans for how Augusta Longbottom will be treating Dumbledore in this chapter. A lot of people are going to lose their faith in him now that they know who he left Harry with.**

 **To The 379** **th** **Hero: It was the "I wanna bang Natalie Portman" stage, but because he could not do that, it caused him to be angry as well. I mean, who would not be angry?**

 **To gabrieljuarezl: Thank you for agreeing with me. Thankfully I have not had any trouble from that Guest user since I addressed what he was doing.**

 **To Princesakarlita411: I'm assuming your "Oh my." Is reference to how Vernon treated Harry, but it was needed to get Harry out of the Dursleys' house quickly. If it were not for that, then they could have covered up whatever they had done and moved on with their lives.**

 **To Irmorena: Dobby means well, he just has a weird way of showing it.**

 **To Pandoras-box last thing inside: I stuck to canon for the first book mainly because there were not too many things that I could change with the storyline with the kids being eleven. I have pretty much changed the most that I could, although Red Phoenix Dragon made a good point that I will address in my response to them. I promise you that I will not make Harry do something stupid just to stay close to canon.**

 **To Red Phoenix Dragon: Okay, first- let me start off by saying wow. Those are two of the longest reviews that I have ever gotten. I figured that a lot of the problems that Ron caused were because of his short tempers, so I figured that I could cut that part out and make Hogwarts more enjoyable without all of the fights. I figured that if Neville had gone with them to the potions room, that would have made for a less enjoyable chapter, so I just sacrificed him in the chess game. As for the Wraithmort thing, I feel that eleven is just too young for the romance part of their lives to begin. I was planning on not starting those types of thoughts until at least the end of Second Year. Neville's Gran will find out all about Dumbledore at the Wizengamot trial this chapter. I do not believe in the idea of Harry and Hermione leaving Hogwarts, because I feel that their lives would change too much. I like straying from canon, but I do not want to stray** _ **that**_ **much. Ron and the twins will not try to rescue Harry because they do not have that close of a relationship, and Dumbledore will be aware of Harry living with the Grangers because he is keeping such a close eye on Harry. Now on to your second review- I believe that if Neville just had a stronger support system from better friends, then he would have grown more confident and would not be so timid for so long. I mean, in canon, he only came out of his shell after OoTP. I figured that I had to introduce Ron and the Weasleys somewhere, so I figured, why not with Norbert? Dumbledore is a bit manipulative in this story, so do not be surprised if you see more of that later on. You make a fair point with Harry and Hermione talking to Hagrid about the night his parents died, and I think I will make that happen at some point this school year. Harry and Hermione are already wary of Dumbledore, and are not going to be surprised if they find out that he has been manipulating them more than they already know. Thank you again for writing a long review. I love it when I get reviews like this. I find that they help me more as an author.**

 **To Beyondthesea16: Yes, Vernon is going to jail as well as Petunia and Dudley.**

 **To knuckles 8: Yep, and there are going to be more than a few ways that he is going to try to "save" Harry than just the barrier and the bludger.**

 **Now that your questions and comments are answered, it is time to find out what is going to happen in the trial and what is going to happen with Dumbledore and the fate of the Dursleys. Oh, and one more thing, Dumbledore is going to be getting a bit darker in this chapter. His plans are revealed as pertaining to a lot more than just Harry. So, feel free to leave a review, send a PM, and enjoy. Until next time, OPKILLERFROST, out.**

It was the day of the Dursleys' trial, and Harry was not sure how he felt. He was happy that they were finally going to be behind bars, but what was it going to be like when he had to tell everybody just what he had gone through all those years? Harry was not sure that he was going to be up for reliving that experience of his life. He would have preferred if he could just move on with his life with the Grangers and be happy for once. He was so nervous that he had to have Hermione button up his shirt because his hands were shaking.

"You're going to be okay, Harry. Just this one last thing, and then you can move on past that horrible time in your life."

"I know. As long as I have you with me, I'll be fine."

Hermione just smiled and walked out of his room to finish getting ready. The entire Granger family was being called in front of the Wizengamot that morning, so they all had to look their best. An hour later, the doorbell rang. Harry answered it to find a tall man with a dark complexion standing in front of him. When he spoke, he had a bit of an accent that sounded like he was not native to Britain.

"Hello, I'm Kingsley Shacklebolt, and I'm here to escort you and the Grangers to the Wizengamot trial of Petunia, Vernon, and Dudley Dursley. I assume you are Harry Potter?"

"Yes, sir. The others will be ready in just a moment. Please, come in."

Kingsley was starting to like Harry already. He had heard from Dumbledore that he was well-mannered, but he had not told just the extent that it reached to. Five minutes later and the rest of the Grangers were assembled in the living room.

"I am going to Apparate with you to the Ministry of Magic in groups. I'll take the kids first, then the adults. Understood?"

They all nodded their heads, and Kingsley held out his arms, indicating that he wanted Harry and Hermione to take them. The next thing they knew, they were experiencing a _really_ uncomfortable feeling, like they were being squeezed through a really long tube. Just when Harry thought that he could not take it anymore, the feeling ended and he was standing in a large hallway lined with fireplaces filled with green flames. They barely noticed as Kingsley Disapparated with a pop, because they were so focused on the people that were stepping in and out of the flames. It took Dan and Emma shaking their shoulders to get their attention again. Kingsley then led them through the atrium, bringing them ever closer to the courtroom with the Dursleys. As they reached the middle of the atrium, they looked at a fountain that had all sorts of magical creatures in it: a witch, a wizard, a goblin, an elf, and a centaur. It was a beautiful statue, but they did not get to look at it long before they had to pass a wand inspection.

"Wands, please." The security guard asked in a bored voice

Harry turned over his wand and confirmed that it was indeed eleven inches long, made of holly with a phoenix feather core. Then it was Hermione's turn. He finally learned that her wand was ten and three-quarters of an inch long, made of vine with a dragon heartstring core. After that, they were given visitor badges, and they were sent on their way. They had to go to Level Nine: the Department of Mysteries before they could access Level Ten, where the courtrooms were held. Once they reached the courtroom, they could see that Dumbledore was already there, dressed in his Chief Warlock outfit. It would probably be improper to head a court hearing in midnight purple robes with stars all over them. Ten minutes later, the trial began, and the Dursleys were brought to the center of the room and chained to three very uncomfortable looking chairs.

"Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August **(brownie points if you know what that is a reference to)** into offenses committed to the welfare of a one Harry Potter, by Vernon Dursley, Petunia Dursley, and Dudley Dursley, residents at number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.

Interrogators: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Delores Jane Umbridge, Undersecretary to the Minister; Court Scribe, Johnathan Alexander Morgan.

The charges against the accused are as follows: That they did knowingly, deliberately, and in full awareness of the illegality of their actions, have abused a child under their care physically and mentally, for the past ten years that said child has been in their care.

You are Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey?"

"Yes." They all muttered, except for Vernon, who practically growled it out.

"You do not deny the acts of abuse against Harry Potter for the past ten years?"

"No."

"And you committed these heinous crimes willingly and of your own free will, correct?"

"Yes."

"Even though you knew it was illegal to treat a child that way?"

"Yes."

"Even with the knowledge that his boy would be the most famous wizard of the age, and that the wizarding community would be outraged upon hearing of his abuse?"

"YES ALREADY! HOW MANY MORE USELESS QUESTIONS ARE YOU FREAKS GOING TO ASK US?!" Vernon shouted

"Let the record show that Vernon Dursley has yelled at the Wizengamot without provocation. Now, how did you come to have guardianship of Harry Potter?" Amelia Bones asked

"Dumbledore left him with us the day after his parents were killed. I found him the following morning as I was getting the morning paper. All that was left was a note telling him that we were to care for the boy as if he was our own."

"You mean to tell me that Albus Dumbledore left Harry in your care the night after his parents were murdered by You-Know-Who?"

"I don't know who, but yes, yes he did."

"And did Albus Dumbledore ever come to check in on Harry to see how he was doing over the years?"

"No, not once."

There was a murmuring in the Wizengamot as this news was revealed. They could not believe that their Chief Warlock, the great Albus Dumbledore could leave the Boy Who Lived in the care of these monsters and not check up on him once.

"But you gave him clothes, and food, and shelter for those ten years?" Umbridge spoke up

"Yes, yes we did. And we didn't have to, either! We could have left the freak at an orphanage, but we took him under our wing and raised him out of the goodness of our hearts!" Vernon said

"Then I am failing to see the problem here. They have cared for the boy for ten years and have continued to do so. I see no reason why they are in front of the Wizengamot today."

"Delores! How can you say that? There is evidence to the fact that he has been abused!" Madam Bones said

"And where is the evidence of that?"

"The boy's back." Augusta Longbottom said

"I'm sorry, what did you say Augusta?" Umbridge asked in a too sweet voice

"I said the evidence is the boy's back. I saw what those people did to him when he came back from Hogwarts this year. Face was so bruised, you couldn't even recognize him if it wasn't for the green eyes. When he was all healed, I saw the scars on his back from years of abuse. No magic can get rid of those."

"Then show us the evidence! I want to see just how 'cruel' these kind people have been to their nephew."

Harry knew that he was going to have to get up, to show them the scars on his back. He started to hyperventilate. He had not shown anybody these scars, not even Hermione. Nobody on the Quidditch team knew, because he usually hid in the bathroom to change. He was scared that they would somehow think him a freak if they knew that he was beaten.

"It's okay, Harry. I'll be right next to you." Hermione whispered to him

Sucking in a deep breath, Harry stood with Hermione, holding his hand for support. Nobody on the Wizengamot had the heart to tell her to sit back down. Well, nobody but Delores Umbridge.

"Excuse me, but only Harry Potter was called forward. I do not believe that you were called forward with him."

"Oh leave her alone, Delores! She's there to support him! Can you even begin to understand how hard this must be for the boy?" Madam Bones asked

That shut her up. Harry tried to unbutton his shirt, but just like before when trying to put it on, his hands were shaking too badly. Hermione softly pushed his hands away and undid the buttons herself. After that, she pulled the shirt off of his shoulders and he turned around so that his back was to the Wizengamot. When he heard the gasps, he feared for the worst, that they would hate him like the freak he was raised to be. But then he heard the cries of outrage, and knew that they were angry for him, that they did not think him a freak. With Hermione's help, he put his shirt back on and went to sit back down with Dan and Emma.

"Let the record show that Harry Potter's back is filled with a lattice of scars from years of abuse. Is there other witness that would like to come forward and speak?"

As if he had been waiting for this, a man stepped into the courtroom. He was wearing old, shabby robes that looked like they were patched in a lot of places. He had dark brown hair and what looked like a scar on his cheek, from what, Harry did not know.

"Yes, I would like to speak on the behalf of Harry Potter."

"And who would you be?" a wizard asked

"My name is Remus J. Lupin, a close friend of Harry's parents."

This hit Harry hard. This man knew Harry's parents? Why had he never seen him before? Why was he only showing up now?

"And what is your business here to speak on the behalf of Harry Potter?" Umbridge asked with a sneer

"Well, I should probably start at the beginning. When I looked at the Daily Prophet this morning and saw that there was a trial being held against the Dursleys for the abuse against Harry, I was confused. It was nowhere in James and Lily's will for Harry to be placed with those people."

"And how would you know this?" Madam Bones asked

"I was there when they wrote it."

"You were a witness to the will?"

"Yes, and if I remember correctly, the people that Harry was supposed to be raised by if James and Lily die was supposed to be Sirius Black-"

People started to yell at this. Things like "He's a murderer!" and "He betrayed them! How could they leave their son with them?"

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore yelled "Please, Remus, continue."

"Thank you. After Sirius, it was supposed to be Alice Longbottom, his godmother."

Harry could have grown up with Neville? That would have been an interesting thing to happen, growing up with Neville as a brother.

"After her, it was Madam Bones, betrothed to Harry's Godfather. Then it was to be Minerva McGonagall. They did not name anybody after that, but they did explicitly say in their will that Harry was _not_ to live with the Dursleys. So I must ask, Chief Warlock, why in the bloody hell did you place him with hose monsters."

Things were not looking good for Albus. He was facing the possibility of losing his seat as Chief Warlock, but he was not as worried about that. As long as nobody discovered the deals that he had made with a certain family, then he was not about to start worrying.

"Albus, what is he talking about? If James and Lily did not want Harry with these muggles, then why did you leave him with them?"

"Albus, how could you?"

"Albus, what is the meaning of this?"

"Albus-"

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore yelled "I do not have to explain myself to the likes of you, Remus. I do believe that being in the same room as Harry violates the agreement that we had!"

Before he could continue, Albus recognized that he had let something slip that he should not have. Today just was not in the favor of Albus Dumbledore.

"You mean the agreement where I would be forcibly kept out of Harry's life or I would be obliviated? I figured that you wouldn't dare try anything in a room full of fifty witches and wizards, Albus. I know you're a great wizard, but you're not _that_ great."

Dumbledore just slumped in his seat. This trial was beginning to turn from convicting the Dursleys to a "let's point out every illegal action Albus has done over the past eleven years!" He had to find a way to turn the focus away from him, and fast. But there was no way to do it. He was stuck in the hole that he had dug himself.

"Aurors!" Augusta called

Kingsley and another man stepped in the room and started making their way over to where the Dursleys were held, believing that the trial was over.

"No, not them. You are to arrest Albus Dumbledore for blackmail and endangering the life of Harry James Potter."

Kingsley looked at his partner looked at each other, not sure of what to do. They knew that they could never force Dumbledore into the cuffs, nor that he would go quietly. They were in a bit of a dilemma.

"Albus Dumbledore, you are under arrest for the endangerment of Harry James Potter." Kingsley said, walking up to Dumbledore. He had no intention to make the man feel any more threatened than he had to.

Albus knew that he was screwed. He had let loose more than he should have, and he was going to pay for it now. Who was going to watch over Hogwarts and make sure everything would go according to plan? That was when he remembered what he had done to Severus. He would make sure that Albus's plans were followed to the letter. _So long as the Potter brat does nothing to break the enchantments without my constant casting._ But that was a bridge he would cross when the time came. For now, he would willingly be cuffed and detained. With luck, he would be out within the week. Once Dumbledore was gone, the Wizengamot started to talk amongst themselves, and after a few moments, Augusta Longbottom stood up and sat in Dumbledore's seat.

"Is there anything else that you would like to add, Remus?" She asked

"No, I have said my piece. I was just trying to expose Albus for the man he truly is. Hopefully I have done that today, and now I can get to know my best friend's son better."

"Very well. All those in favor of the Dursleys serving a life sentence in Azkaban?"

Everybody but Umbridge raised their hands.

"All those in favor of clearing the accused of all charges?"

Umbridge was the only person to raise a hand.

"Very well. Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley Dursley, you are hereby sentenced to a life sentence in the wizarding prison of Azkaban. Aurors!"

Kingsley and the man again appeared and brought all of them out of the room, kicking and screaming. They eventually had to stun Vernon because he was thrashing around too much. Now with them gone, Harry felt suddenly happier now that his part of his life was over. He could now start looking up to life with the Grangers. As they were getting ready to leave, Remus walked up to them.

"Hello, Harry."

"Hello." Harry replied nervously

"I'm sorry that I haven't been around in your life before now. I was forced to agree to do it by Albus just after your parents died. You have no idea how much I wanted to see you over the years, but was forced to stay away. I tried to talk to you when you were younger and your Uncle did not have such a driving force in your life. You were five at the time, and I tried to approach you in the park, but Albus appeared and started to yell."

"I think I remember that. You held the attention of everybody in the playground. I thought that you were just two homeless men fighting over the bench to sleep on." Harry added with a blush.

Remus just started to laugh. Looking down at his robes, he started to nod his head.

"I can see where you got that impression. Unfortunately, with the company I have been forced to keep over the years, I have found it pointless to buy new robes, much less afford them. I'm hoping to fix that now that I'll be seeing you more often."

"Seeing me more often?"

"With your consent, of course. I completely understand if you don't want to see me after today. I know that I haven't been there for you as much as I should have."

"No! I would like that. Is it alright if he comes over every now and then?" He asked Dan and Emma

"I don't see why not, so long as he holds no ill intentions for you or Hermione." Dan said

"I promise you, I don't. My only intentions is to get to know James's son better."

Harry smiled, and could not wait to get to know Remus better.

0Oo.-

A week later, Remus and Harry were sitting in the living room laughing at a story he had just told from when James was the king of pranks at Hogwarts. He mentioned that he was only just ahead of Sirius in that respect, and that got Harry thinking about something at the trial.

"Remus, what did the people in the Wizengamot mean when they said that Sirius betrayed my parents?" Harry asked

Remus sighed before answering. "Eleven years ago, things were very different. The entire wizarding world was on edge, there were mass killings everywhere, you couldn't be sure if you would come home and find the Dark Mark hovering over your house, knowing what you'll find inside. Back then, because we weren't sure if the Ministry had been infiltrated, a secret group was formed, with your parents as one of the leading members. It was called the Order of the Phoenix. Sirius was a part of the Order, too. In the later years, we were all sure there was a spy in the Order, feeding Voldemort information. Unfortunately, most believed it to be me, because I was disappearing once a month do deal with… personal problems. Ah, to hell with it. I'm a werewolf. I have been since I was a small boy. I turn once a month on the full moon, so I couldn't be near people. Now, there's a potion called Wolfsbane, and it allows me to keep my human mind as a wolf. But I'm sidetracking, back to the point. When we learned that Voldemort was after your parents, we sent them into hiding. They trusted Sirius to be the only one to know where they were. They were wrong to trust him, because he betrayed their location to Voldemort a little over a year later. That was how you got that scar and why you grew up the way you did."

"So, just to recap, Sirius was best friends with my dad."

"Yeah."

"They were both in a secret group called the Order of the Phoenix, which you were in too."

"Correct."

"They believed you to be a spy, but it was really Sirius."

"Unfortunately."

"And he betrayed their location, essentially handing them a death sentence."

"Sounds about right."

"But I remember snippet of a memory, from when I was just a baby, I think. I remember Hagrid holding me, and he said something about Sirius. He said that Sirius lent him the motorcycle that he used to deliver me to Privet Drive. He made it sound like Sirius gave him the motorcycle after he had already picked me up. If he was really Voldemort's follower, then how come he didn't just finish me off right then and there, avenge his fallen master?"

"You make a good point, Harry. I think you should ask Hagrid about it when you see him next, or perhaps write him a letter about it."

"I'll write to him after you leave. This is really starting to get weird."

"Yes, well, when you're the Boy Who Lived, your life is bound to get weird sometimes. Well Prongslet, I best be off. I'll be sure to see you before you leave for Hogwarts."

"Prongslet?"

"Your father's nickname was Prongs, like a deer. Mine was Moony, but it seemed fitting that you be called Prongslet. I won't call you that if you don't like it."

"No, I like it." Harry said, eager to have any kind of an attachment to his father.

"Well, I'll be leaving. How about we all go to Diagon Alley next Wednesday to get your and Hermione's school supplies? I'll send an owl to Dan and Emma to talk it through."

"Yeah, that sounds great."

"Alright, I'll see you next week, Prongslet."

"See you around, Uncle Moony."

Remus just smiled and walked out of the house before Disapparating. Harry could not wait until next week when he was able to see his father's friend again, as well as get ready for the new school year at one of his favorite places in the world.


	8. Chapter 8

**A.N.: Hey guys, what's up? So this chapter will mark the infamous Diagon Alley trip in which Ginny gains Tom's diary, and it will move all the way through the beginning of the school year. But before then, reviews.**

 **To pottersparky: I see that now. I might change something where Dudley got parole on good behavior or something like that.**

 **To ElizabethAnneSoph: I figured that if I added Moony to the story a year earlier, it can help cement their relationship and make it so that Harry does not doubt him so much in PoA. Now it is just a matter of discovering that Sirius is really innocent.**

 **To Red Phoenix Dragon: Vernon could have tried to blame it on Dumbledore, but it would not have worked. While Dumbledore left Harry at the Dursleys, they did not have to abuse him the way that they did. Umbitch has already shown her cruel streak because that is just the bitch that she is. The reason that I made it so that she did not know about Moony being a werewolf is because of the fact that at the end of PoA, Remus says something about how parents will not be happy that a werewolf is teaching. That kind of implies that it was not widespread information that he was a werewolf. As for Remus knowing that Sirius could not betray the Potters, Dumbledore believes that he has done all he has to prevent that bit of information from leaking out. The motorbike thing will be followed up sooner or later, but Remus has more things to worry about at the moment than just a possible lead that Sirius was at the Potter house. As for how Dumbledore will talk his way out of this, you will just have to read on to find out.**

 **To Riniko22: I realize that now, and I am already planning on Dudley making an appearance later on in the story.**

 **To ASHtheMUSICALgirl13: Thank you for the awesome review. I am sure that you have to have at least one fanfic that is better than this one. I guess that I will just have to read them to prove you wrong. Also, thank you for the cover photo.**

 **To EmilyWoods: No… no that is not it. August 12 was the day of Harry's trial when he was in trouble for using the Patronus to fight off the Dementors.**

 **To punkyredhead: I am pretty sure in canon, Hermione did tell her parents about Harry, but she left out a lot of the details that made life at Hogwarts so dangerous, i.e.: the course to the Stone in first year, getting petrified in second, nearly getting bitten by a werewolf in third, you get the point.**

 **To Beyondthesea16: Rita will be making her appearance very soon. You will just have to wait and see what goes down when her article finds its way to Harry.**

 **To Passthewand: Thanks for the review. I will definitely make it a point to check out your story.**

 **To Cheryl, knuckles 8, gabrieljuarezl, the Guest (I am hoping you are not the same one I yelled at a couple chapters ago), Princesakarlita411, and Gime'SS: Thank you for the reviews**

 **Now that those are answered, I will let you guys get to reading. So, feel free to leave a review, send a PM, and of course, enjoy. Until next time, OPKILLERFROST, out.**

It was now the twenty-sixth of August and Harry was excited. He was going to get to see Remus today. Even though he had just seen the man the previous week, it felt like Harry had not seen him in forever. The Grangers (plus Harry) had a quick breakfast before they got in the car and drove to London. Once there, they found a place to park the car and proceeded into the Leaky Cauldron. As soon as they entered, Harry was under an assault of a bunch of witches and wizards wanting to shake his hand and give thanks for something he could not even remember. After the last of them were gone, Harry immediately found Remus standing in the back of the room. He walked over and gave him a quick hug, surprising everybody around him. Even after spending so much time at the Grangers, it was rare for Harry to initiate a hug with anyone besides Hermione. After everyone said their greetings, they headed out into Diagon Alley. Their first stop was to head to Gringotts, naturally. It would not do them much good if they had no money to buy anything. Once at Harry's vault, he took the necessary gold out, plus a little extra to get a gift for Hermione. Her birthday was in three and a half weeks, and Harry felt like he had to get her the best gift ever. It would not feel right for him to not get her something amazing after all that she has done for him. After Gringotts, they made their way to all of the shops getting the various things that they needed for the school year. They restocked their potions supplies, got new quills and parchment, new gloves for Herbology, and were almost done when they stepped into Flourish and Blotts. There was a long line of people, and Harry was wondering what the holdup was when Hermione pointed out a sign near the door.

"Gilderoy Lockhart will be signing copies of his autobiography _Magical Me_ today Twelve Thirty PM to Four Thirty PM. Who is Gilderoy Lockhart?" Dan asked

"Only one of the best wizards _ever_. He has taken on so many different dark creatures, gives so many helpful tips on how to make your home better, and just the dreamiest smile!" A young witch in front of them said

"He's an annoying git if you ask me."

Harry turned around and saw Neville, smiling while standing next to his grandmother.

"Hey, Nev. Mrs. Longbottom."

"Please, Harry, it's Augusta. I think you've earned that right."

"Thank you, Mrs.- Augusta."

"So how's it going, Nev? Had a good summer?" Hermione asked

"Yeah, it's been alright. I've been studying for next year so that way I won't be so abysmal in Potions." Neville said, hanging his head.

"You're not that bad, Neville. It's just that Snape is constantly calling you names and making you doubt yourself. It's not healthy, and it needs to be put to a stop. I wish there was something that we could do."

"It's alright, Hermione. I'll learn to deal with it."

"But you shouldn't have to, Nev."

"I know. On another note, who do you guys think is going to be the new Defense professor this year? It can't exactly be Quirrell."

Hermione saw Harry's face darken, even if it was for a fraction of a second. She knew that he was trying not to think of what happened at the end of the last school year, but it was hard when you learned that you had taken another man's life.

"I don't know. Hopefully it'll be someone better than Quirrell. Even if he was only faking it, the guy couldn't teach us anything without jumping at his own shadow." Harry said

"Yeah. I hope we'll find out before we get to Hogwarts. It'll be nice to know who's going to be teaching us so we know if they will be competent or not." Hermione said

They were suddenly interrupted when the arrival of one of their other classmates caught their attention.

"Harry, Neville, Hermione!"

"Oh no." Harry heard Hermione mutter

Ronald Bilius Weasley had just walked into the shop with the rest of his family, including Ginny, who would be starting Hogwarts this year. Before they could start talking, there was a commotion at the front of the shop that grabbed everyone's attention.

"It _can't_ be Harry Potter?"

 _Here we go again._ Harry thought. He looked up and saw the person who must have been Gilderoy Lockhart jump forward and seize his arm. Pulling him back to the table where Lockhart had been signing books, there were multiple flashes of light as the photographer took a lot of pictures of Lockhart and Harry together. If one were to look closely, they would have been able to see that Harry was very uncomfortable standing in front of everybody like that. So naturally, Hermione saw it immediately. Before any more pictures could be taken, she rushed forward and grabbed Harry's arm, pulling him back towards Dan and Emma. For a second, Lockhart looked appalled, but when he saw Hermione, his expression changed into one that made her feel extremely wary of the type of man that Lockhart was.

"Um, ah, yes. When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography – which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge – he had no _idea_ that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, _Magical Me._ He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have the great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

This was enough to make Harry gag. Shortly after, he found that every book that he needed for school in September was being stuffed into his arms. Turning to Hermione, he handed the books to Hermione.

"You have these, I'll buy my own." He said

She looked like she was going to try to argue, but after seeing the look in his eyes, she closed her mouth. She knew all too well that it was impossible to argue with Harry when he set his mind on something. After Harry, Ron, and Neville bought their books, the four of them began to leave the store. They did not get very far before a voice that all three of them hated rang out.

"Bet you loved that, didn't you Potter?"

Turning around, they all saw Draco Malfoy walking down a flight of stairs. " _Famous_ Harry Potter, can't even go into a _bookshop_ without making the front page."

"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" Hermione said

"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend! Too bad it's with a dirty little mudblood!"

It did not take long for Dan to understand that "mudblood" was a terrible word. Just from the murderous look on Harry's face and the downtrodden look on Hermione's, he knew that the boy in front of him had just insulted his daughter in a major way. He was about to say something when a man came up behind the boy and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Well, well, well – Harry Potter."

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Harry asked

The man sneered as he gave his reply. "Lucius Malfoy. If you couldn't already tell, I'm Draco's father." The man said, taking Ginny's copy of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_ from her cauldron.

"I could tell as soon as you sneered at me. Seems that your son inherited that from you."

That just made the Lucius sneer even more. "Tell me something Potter, what is the point of being famous if you disgrace yourself with the company of Muggles?"

"I think you and I have a very different definition of 'disgrace', Lucius."

"Clearly. I didn't want to believe the stories my son told me, keeping the company of mudbloods and blood traitors, I just-"

Lucius was cut off from his rant by Dan stepping forward and punching Malfoy Senior in the face. Pushing Lucius back into a bookshelf, Dan pulled the first book he could grab, an _Encyclopedia of Toadstools_ , and started to hit Lucius in the face with it. Before he could get a third hit in, Malfoy hit Dan in the face, and was about to draw his wand on the man when the sudden arrival of Hagrid brought an end to the fight.

"Break it up, there, gents, break it up!"

Ripping his arm out of Hagrid's grasp as if the man repulsed him (which he probably did) Lucius saw that he was still holding Ginny's book. He pushed the book towards her.

"Here, girl, take your book. It's the best your father can give you." Lucius said, getting a jab in towards Mr. Weasley before he grabbed Draco's arm and pulling him out of the shop.

"Yeh should've ignored him, Mister Granger. Rotter ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that. No Malfoy's worth listenin' ter, bad blood, that's what it is. Come on now, let's get outta here."

They all exited the shop and found Remus waiting outside. Through all the commotion after Lockhart announced Harry, nobody had noticed him leave. It made Harry feel kind of bad that he had not noticed.

"You okay, Dan?" Remus asked when he saw Dan's split lip

"I'm fine, Remus. I met Lucius Malfoy for the first time and he insulted my kids, so I didn't take too kindly to that."

Harry stopped where he stood. Did Dan just say his _kids_? As in, more than one? As in, he just called Harry his kid? Harry thought that he would burst into tears from happiness, but did not, as he was in a public place. Before anybody noticed, or so he thought, he started moving again. But Hermione noticed, and she knew exactly why Harry had stopped. She felt happy and sad that he found it great that Dan had practically called Harry his son. Sure, it was nice for Harry to have a father figure to look up to, but on the flip side, she was upset that those Dursleys had made it that he did not have that father figure for the past eleven years. They all continued on their way to the Leaky Cauldron, Hagrid included. Before they got there, something crossed Harry's mind.

"Hagrid, do you remember the night that you brought me to the Dursleys?"

Hagrid looked surprised. "Blimey, Harry! I didn't think you'd remember that!"

"So you do?"

"Yeah, o' course I do."

"When Sirius Black gave you the flying motorcycle, had you already picked me up, or were you still on your way to get me?"

"I was just comin' out o' the house with you when he showed up, why?"

"So he saw you with me?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks, Hagrid."

After that, they walked into the Leaky Cauldron and parted ways. Once back home, Harry and Hermione put their new things away in their trunks before going back to the living room. Once there, they started their Monday night ritual of introducing Harry to new movies. Tonight they were watching E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Once the popcorn was made, everybody got comfy on the couch, and they started to watch. When the movie was over, everyone's eyes were a little misty. It was an amazing movie, one of the best ever made. **(Still is, even today)** By that point, it was already late, so the kids turned in for the night.

0Oo.-

One week later, and it was September First. Hermione had made sure that Harry had gotten up early by assaulting him with a hug. It seemed to be a habit of hers that whenever she was tasked with waking Harry up. By the time they had to leave, the kids were already dressed, packed, and ready to leave for Kings Cross. The hour long drive to London. While there was no excitement, Harry took the time to fall asleep in the backseat. Soon after, Hermione followed suit. Forty-five minutes later, Dan shook Hermione awake, who was using Harry's shoulder as a pillow.

"Sweetheart, it's time to get up, we're here." Dan said

"Oh, okay. Harry, come on, we're here, it's time to get up." She said, shaking Harry

"Wha?"

Harry sat up, glasses half hanging off of his face, looking around. When he saw Hermione sitting there, laughing, he finally realized that they must have arrived at Kings Cross. The pair proceeded to get out of the car and load their trunks onto trollies. Once they made their way to the barrier, Hermione went first, but when she went to go through the barrier, the trolley just hit solid brick. Her ribs went right into the bar and she almost flipped over when Harry caught her.

"Hermione, are you okay?" He asked

"Yeah- just hurts a lot. I'll go check with Madam Pomfrey when we get to Hogwarts. What's wrong with the barrier? Why couldn't I get through?"

"I don't know. Seems like someone doesn't want us going to Hogwarts."

 _Who doesn't want us to go to Hogwarts? I mean, asides from Malfoy, Snape, and a lot of other people? There has to be someone… someone that would go to any measure to make sure that we didn't show up… even to go so far as to come to us in person…_

"I bet it was Dobby. He said he didn't want us going to Hogwarts this year and that he would try and stop us from getting there. This has to have something to do with him." Harry said

"Of course! He said he would do anything to stop us from getting to Hogwarts. At least we're early so that way someone else will have to come along and help us get through."

As if some all-mighty power was listening to Harry, Neville showed up walking next to a blonde girl who looked as if she was living in another plane of existence. She was staring of blankly while Neville walked next to her, talking about some plant that he had gotten for his birthday over the summer. When they reached Harry and Hermione, he broke into an even wider smile.

"Hey guys! Ready for the new year?"

"Yeah. Who's this?" Hermione asked

"Oh, this is Luna. Luna Lovegood."

"Hello." Luna said, still staring upwards as if there were birds flying around that nobody could see

"So what are you guys doing out here? Why aren't you going through the barrier?" Neville asked

"It's blocked. When Hermione tried to go through, she hit the barrier and fell over. Has this ever happened before?" Harry said

"No. Is it really blocked?"

Neville walked right up to the barrier and for a moment, his hand hit solid brick, but before he could take his hand away, it went through the barrier. _Looks like Dobby figured he couldn't keep everyone from getting on the Hogwarts Express just because he doesn't want me on it._ After that, the four children, parents included, walked through the barrier and said their final good-byes as they boarded the train. Once on the train, they found an empty compartment, and all sat down. They started to talk, and eventually got to learning more about Luna.

"Where were your parents, Luna?" Hermione asked

"Daddy is on an expedition to find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack, but I couldn't go because I have to start school. Sometimes I wonder about the existence of the Snorkack because my father never expressed interest in it before my mother died."

"Oh, Luna, I'm so sorry. When did she die?"

"Two years ago. She liked to experiment with spells and one day a spell went wrong. It's been just me and Daddy ever since. Her death changed him though, he's started to chase animals I've never heard of before, and he's also started to become more frantic with everything he does. It gets scary sometimes."

"My dad gets kind of scary sometimes. He'll get up out of bed and start yelling something about the Lestranges before he lays back down." Neville said, a dejected look on his face.

"Why don't we ever see your father, Neville? Or your mother?" Harry asked

"A couple days after your parents died, mine came out of hiding. They didn't last more than a day. Some of You-Know-Who's more loyal followers, Ballatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan Lestrange found them and tortured them for information about their master. They used one of the unforgivable curses, the Cruciatus. They tortured my parents so badly that they barely even recognize me, and that's on a good day. I go see them around Christmas every year."

"My god, Neville, I'm so sorry." Hermione said, tears falling from her eyes

"Man, we've all got messed up families." Harry said

"Except me."

"Yeah, and I wouldn't have it any other way, because otherwise, I would still be with the Dursleys, being abused. If it weren't for your parents, I would have been in a living hell this summer. Your parents are the best people there are."

Hermione just smiled, hugged Harry, and stayed resting with her head on his shoulder. For the rest of the ride to Hogwarts, they all sat in a comfortable silence. Hermione ended up falling asleep on Harry's shoulder, but he did not mind. She looked cute when she slept. _Wait, what? I'm not supposed to think that! She's my best friend!_ Shaking his head, he leaned it up against the window and drifted off into a deep sleep. He awoke later when he saw Hermione shaking him.

"Harry, we're going to be there in five minutes. We might want to get changed."

He just nodded and stood up. He saw that Luna was already buttoning up her shirt, a red-faced Neville standing behind her. Harry, used to changing in front of both Hermione and Neville, stood up and started to put on his school uniform. He looked over and saw that Hermione was also changing, but Neville was looking away. Harry could not help but notice how beautiful his best friend was. _What the hell is going on with me? Why am I thinking of Hermione like that?_ After they had finished changing, they were already at Hogwarts, so they left the train and followed the rest of the students through the gates of the train station, to where carriages were waiting for them. After climbing in, they started to move all on their own.

"Does anybody know what's pulling these things?" Neville asked

"Thestrals. They supposedly look like skeletal, leathery horses." Hermione said

"They do. You can only see them after you have seen death first hand." Luna said

After that, everyone sat in silence, right up until there was a loud roaring coming from overhead. Harry stuck his head out the window just in time to see a flying car crash into a rather large tree. Hopefully, whoever was inside was not too hurt by the crash landing. Although, who would fly a _car_ to Hogwarts, of all things? They would just have to wait and find out when they got to the castle. Five minutes later, they arrived at the large oak doors, ready to start a new year at one of the best places on Earth.


	9. Chapter 9

**A.N.: Hey guys, what's up? So first off, as always, time to answer your reviews.**

 **To Arnold DeVillena: I figured all of that would start now, so that way by the time it comes for the end of Third Year, those feelings will have developed. Still trying to decide if I want them to get together when they go back in time with the Time Turner or after the First Task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.**

 **To Cheryl: I thought that I would introduce Luna now, so that way I can elaborate more on her character. I thought that she should have had a more major role than what she had in the books, and now is my chance to make that so.**

 **To ElizabethAnneSoph: I have always liked the stories where the Grangers were nice to Harry, so I thought that there was no other way that I could portray them in this one.**

 **To Red Phoenix Dragon: I do not think that I will go so far as to have Lucius attack Hermione's parents right now. You have to think, this is a time when Voldemort related events were at the bare minimum. They do not start to pick up for another two years in the series. As to Harry and Hermione seeing Thestrals, they never actually saw Quirrell die. Harry hit him with a stunner, then was assaulted by Voldemort's soul. Neither children actually saw the death of their DADA professor. You will find out who was in the flying car soon enough.**

 **To Riniko22: I think it was more of a wanting to stay with people that were familiar to her. She could have noticed, but decided that these newfound friends were better to be around than some boat ride across a lake.**

 **To serenityselena: We will just have to see exactly what Dumbles has done and what he has done to get out of it.**

 **To lisicarmela: Alright, I do not know if you read English, so I am going to do my best to translate into Spanish since that is what I read the review in. So here goes my attempt at a language I have not studied since I dropped it two years ago. Gracias por la revisión, espero que continúe disfrutando de la historia más en el futuro.**

 **To Firemnwnb: I do not think she** _ **should**_ **have been on the boats, I think she should have been right where she was during the chapter. Normally, she** _ **would**_ **have been on the boats, but as I said earlier, friends are more important that a boat ride.**

 **To Gime'SS, gabrieljuarezl, gisel, and Irmorena: Thanks for the reviews. Plenty of more chapters are on the way.**

 **Now that those are done with, I will let you guys get to reading the chapter. So, feel free to leave a review, send a PM, and of course, enjoy. Until next time, OPKILLERFROST, out.**

Once inside, the four friends followed all the other students to the Great Hall. That was, until Professor McGonagall noticed the Luna was a first year. They all got an earful for not following rules, and were lucky that term had not started yet, otherwise they would be losing a serious amount of points. Saying their good-byes, the Golden Trio found seats at the Gryffindor table and waited. That was when Harry saw something that he thought he would never see again. Dumbledore was at the Staff Table.

"How the bloody hell is he here? I thought that they arrested him?" Harry said

"Language, Harry. I agree, though. He was arrested in front of the whole Wizengamot. How did he get the charges dropped?" Hermione said

"Guys, this is Dumbledore. We should know by now that there are thing that he is able to keep from us." Neville said

Ten minutes later, the First Years walked in, Luna among them. They all sat and waited while they were sorted and, when it finally came to Luna's turn, all three Gryffindors turned to the front to pay attention to where she would end up. After what felt like _forever_ , the hat yelled out its decision.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The three of them cheered while Luna made their way over and sat across next to Neville. The rest of the Sorting went by, and Harry noticed that Ron's little sister was sorted into Gryffindor. That was when Harry noticed something. Where was Ron? He should be at the Sorting with the rest of them, so why was he not? Harry got his answer when Professor Snape walked in and whispered into McGonagall's ear, and they both left in a hurry. After that, Professor Dumbledore stood up and declared the beginning of the feast. Everybody started to dig in, and Hermione noticed something different in Harry that she did not see the previous year. He was not eating as much. He also was not as scrawny. It seemed that just after one summer with the Grangers, he was able to stop looking like the sickly kid he used to be and start looking a little healthier. She liked the way he looked now to how he looked then. Back then, he could have passed for a kid that lived on the street. Now he looked like he had a proper home and guardians. That was when she started to noticed other things about her best friend. For the first time, she noticed just how bright his green eyes were. Then there was the way that his raven colored hair just never seemed to lay flat. God, she could just stare at him all day. _Wait, where are those thoughts coming from, Granger? He's your best friend! But he's so good looking. I just want to stare at him all day._ Before she could stare at her best friend too long, Harry looked up, forcing her to look away. She would not get caught staring at her best friends. She would not have him thinking weirdly of her just because she suddenly started to get a crush on him. That was not going to happen.

Harry was staring at Hermione. Why was he suddenly seeing her in this whole new way? Why was he now noticing just how beautiful her chocolate brown eyes were, or how when the light hit her hair just the right way, it made her look like an angel? How was he not noticing this before now? Harry was scared what these new feelings meant for their friendship, but he kind of liked it. This feeling was something that Harry had never felt before, and Harry was not sure that he wanted it to go away. Before Hermione could notice his staring, he looked away, but kept stealing glances at her all throughout the rest of dinner. Once desert was finished, Dumbledore stood up and started to speak.

"Ahem- I have a few start of term announcements to make. First off, I would like to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart."

There was a large amount of clapping, particularly from the females in the room. It seemed that Hermione was the only one that was not interested in the fact that the man had been made a teacher.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students. Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has kindly asked me to remind you that there is no magic to be done in the hallways. Quidditch trials will be held during the second week of term. Any student who wishes to play for their house team should talk to Madam Hooch. That is all the announcements for now, but before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!"

That was how they all spent the next five minutes. The Weasley twins ended up singing the song in a tune that was pretty much the exact opposite from the previous year. While last year's song had been a funeral march, this year they sang to the tune of Metallica's "Battery". How they knew that was beyond anyone's guess. While they Weasleys were not horrible to muggles, they were still purebloods who almost never came into contact with the muggle world except for outside of the village not far from their home. Once the song was over, the prefects led everybody to bed. Hermione hugged Harry goodnight, and then the Golden Four split up, Hermione and Luna going to the Girl's Dorms and Harry and Neville going to the Boy's. When Neville and Harry got to the Second Year's room, they found Dean and Seamus talking to Ron excitedly. That was when Harry noticed for the first time that night that Ron had been missing all night.

"Hey, Ron. Where have you been?" Harry asked

"You mean you haven't heard?" Dean asked

"Heard what?" Neville asked confusedly

"Ron drove a flying car to school!" Seamus said

"That was you?" Harry asked

"Yep!" Ron said proudly

"You do realize you could have taken the train instead of flying a car into the Whomping Willow. I can't even imagine the trouble you must be in for doing that." Harry said

"All I have is a detention tomorrow. Technically term hadn't started yet, so I couldn't get in that much trouble for what I did. But you have to admit that it was really cool flying a car to school, right?"

"No, it was idiotic. What if you hadn't been able to find your way to the school? What if you had been seen by Muggles? Does you mum even know that you flew the car to school? Imagine what she'll think when she finds out what happened."

At this, Ron blushed and hung his head. "I didn't think about that. I just overheard you and Hermione telling Neville and Loony Lovegood that the barrier was clo-"

Ron didn't get to finish his sentence before Neville pushed him against the wall, his forearm against Ron's throat.

" _What did you just call her?_ " Neville hissed

"L-Looney- Looney L-Lovegood!" Ron choked out

" _NEVER call her 'Looney' again! DO YOU HEAR ME?!_ "

"Y-yes!"

Neville let go of Ron and stormed over to his bed before jumping on and pulling his curtains closed. Harry knew that he would find out why Neville had reacted like that, but that time was not now. For now, Harry was going to ignore Ron and get ready for bed. So that is exactly what he did.

0Oo.-

The next morning, Harry awoke to the sound of a large crack. He sat upright and pulled his glasses on, only to see Neville standing over Ron, who was on the floor below a cracked bed post.

"I thought I told you _never_ to call her 'Looney' again." Neville said

"I didn't think that you would hear me!" Ron said

"I don't care if I'm not around. DON"T CALL HER 'LOONEY' EVER AGAIN!"

After that, Neville stormed out of the room. Harry didn't know where his friend was going, but he knew that he would catch up with him during their first class. As mad as Neville could get, he would never miss a class. Ignoring Ron's groaning from the floor, Harry got up and started to get ready for the day. Once he was showered, dressed, and had all of his school supplies, he left the room and started to head to the Common Room. At the bottom of the stairs, he could see Hermione waiting for him. Harry felt his stomach do a somersault.

 _Merlin she's beautiful._

 _Dude! That's your best friend!_

 _Yeah, but look at those warm brown eyes._

 _You live with her during the summer!_

 _Even better. Now I get to see her year round._

 _I'm losing this battle aren't I?_

 _Yup._

Harry walked over to Hermione, who gave him a hug as soon as she reached him.

 _She's getting hug friendly, isn't she?_

 _Don't think too much of it, she's just being friendly._

"Do you know what's wrong with Neville? He came storming down here, blew right past us, and left through the portrait hole. Luna went after him, but I don't know where they went." Hermione said

"Yeah, Ron kept calling Luna 'Looney Lovegood'. Do you know why?"

"Not a clue. That's the first time that I've ever heard Luna called that. Neville must have heard it before to have such a reaction to it."

"You're telling me. The guy blew up and started to yell at Ron, even threw him against his bed and broke it when he heard what Ron said. And that was after Neville pinned Ron against the wall and threatened him when Ron said it last night."

"Yes, well, we know that Ronald Weasley is not the brightest crayon in the box."

"Ain't that the truth."

Together, we walked from the Common Room down to the Great Hall, where Neville and Luna were already eating their breakfast, although Neville looked like he was still angry. When they sat down, neither Neville nor Luna said a word. Nobody spoke until after the morning post arrived. Right as Ron sat down, a bright red envelope fell into his bowl. He froze where he stood, not daring to move. Everybody started to look at him like he had just been handed a death sentence.

"Look it! Ron's got a Howler!" Seamus yelled

"What's a Howler?" Harry asked

"Usually, people hate it, but right now- right now it is the best thing on the face of this planet. You're gonna get to see what Howlers do in a couple of seconds." Neville said

Sure enough, a second later, the envelope lifted itself out of the bowl and folded itself until it made the shape of a pair of lips.

"-STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU. YOU WAIT TILL I GE HOLD OF YOU. I DON'T' SUPPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE. LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME. WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU COULD HAVE DIED. ABSOLUTLEY DISGUSTED. YOUR FATHER IS FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK. IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."

After that, the letter tore itself up, and Ron's face turned a deeper shade of red than his hair. Before anything else could happen, Professor McGonagall started to walk down the table, handing out schedules. After looking at theirs, the Second Years saw that they had double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. Harry's day started to turn worse before they ever reached the greenhouses. Because of the fact that Ron decided that aviation was the best way to get to school, with the Whomping Willow as his landing strip, Professor Sprout had to put splints on some of the branches. Not only did that suck, but who else decided to help her than Gilderoy Lockhart?

"Harry! I've been wanting a word- you don't mind if he's a couple of minutes late, do you, Professor Sprout?" Lockhart asked

Despite the fact that Professor Sprout looked like she did mind, Lockhart started to steer Harry away from the greenhouses.

"Harry. Harry, Harry, Harry. When I heard- well, of course, it was all my fault. Could have kicked myself. Don't know when I've been more shocked. Flying a car to Hogwarts! Well, of course, I knew at once why you'd done it. Stood out a mile. Harry, Harry, _Harry_." Lockhart said

"Professor, what are you talking about?"

"The car you crashed into the Whomping Willow. I knew that the Weasley boy was caught in it, but I knew that, being such good friends, he would take the fall for you. Harry, you need to learn to be more responsible."

"Professor, that was Ron Weasley, not me. He is the one that flew the car into the Whomping Willow. I don't know where you heard that I was in that car, but I took the Hogwarts Express to get to school. Now if you will excuse me, I have to get to Herbology."

Harry walked in right when the class began, so he was not technically late. Professor Sprout even gave him five points for being on time, just because of the fact that he blew of Lockhart. The rest of the class proceeded as normal, well, as normal as it can get in the wizarding world. They were potting Mandrakes that day, and Neville was the best of them all. The highlight of the class was when Ron passed out after seeing the Mandrakes for the first time. After the class, they washed the dirt off of them, and then headed to Transfiguration. Their task for the day was to turning beetles into buttons. This ended up turning into a contest between Harry and Hermione to see who could make more buttons. When the lunch bell rang, it turned out that Hermione had beaten Harry by one. They argued about it the whole way down to the Great Hall.

"Oh, come on! How can you say you are better when you beat me by _one_?" Harry said

"I still beat you, which means that I am better than you." Hermione said

"But it was by _one_. You got lucky that you got your first one done before I did!"

"It's not luck, it's skill. Now quit complaining and let's go eat lunch."

Harry tried to keep the appearance that he was annoyed, but it was impossible when she looked so cute. She was smiling and biting her lip, something she did when she knew she was being cheeky. Harry fell for her charm immediately and started to smile, following her into the Great Hall, where they planned to meet with Luna. Unfortunately, she was not there all throughout lunch. With nothing else to do in the Great Hall, they ate their lunch in near silence.

"What do we have this afternoon?" Neville asked Hermione when she pulled out her schedule

Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed the schedule from her hand and looked at it. "Why do you have 'HP' written in hearts all around the page?" Neville asked

Hermione snatched her schedule back and stuffed it into her bag. "We have Defense Against the Dark Arts."

After that, they all got up and left for the room that just last year was filled with the smell of garlic and always had the curtains drawn. Now, the only thing that was from the previous year was a skeleton of a dragon that hung across the ceiling. When they stepped in, Lockhart was nowhere to be seen, and he did not show up until five minutes after the class began. He made a dramatic entrance from his office, coming down the stairs talking about himself. Then, he set pixies on them, without telling them how to deal with them. If it were not for the fact that Hermione had forced Harry to read his course books for the next year, he would have no idea how to deal with them. After the rest of the class ran from the chaos, he and Hermione stuck their wands in the air and yelled the incantation for the freezing charm. Once all of the pixies were put back into their cage, they all left the classroom and went back to the Common Room.

"Can you believe that man? How can he set pixies on a class, without knowing how to handle them? He's lucky you guys knew how to freeze them." Neville said

"I know! I wanted to have faith that he's a good teacher, judging by what he's done, but it seems like he doesn't know a single thing about teaching anybody about anything. How could Professor Dumbledore have hired him?" Hermione asked

"This isn't the only questionable thing that he's done. Remember where I lived for ten years of my life?" Harry said

"Touché."

They went into the Common Room and spent the rest of the day talking about the questionable things that Dumbledore had been up to over the years. The one that they talked about the most was about how he managed to get out of being convicted and managed to continue being headmaster.

"How do you think he managed it? I mean, I know that he's the only wizard that Voldemort ever feared, but he's still just a man. He should have been thrown in Azkaban for what he did. I mean, blackmailing Lupin, sending me to my mother's sister, he's done so many things that so many people would be arrested for, and yet he's able to stay at this school. How does he do it?" Harry said

"I don't know. He's hurt you so much, and he's just able to get away with it. I hate it, but there's no way to defeat him. Dumbledore just has too much power in the wizarding world to be brought down right now. Maybe in a few years we might be able to take him on, but what two twelve year olds with muggle parents have of standing up to the most powerful wizard alive?" Hermione said

"What about me? He's you guys are my friends too, and nobody messes with my friends and gets away with it. My grandmother is one of the most influential people in the Wizengamot. Well, one of the most influential besides Dumbledore. She'll find a way to take him on and beat anything they throw at her. She's one of the bravest people I know." Neville said

"Neville, she may be fierce, but she's not enough to beat Dumbledore. The man was able to be arrested, get out of it, and continue being the Chief Warlock of the freaking Wizengamot. How the bloody hell are we supposed to beat that?" Harry asked

"Harry! Language!" Hermione said

"Oh, come on. With all the things that I have said, and you're concerned about any profanities I might be saying? After badmouthing multiple professors, conspiring to break school rules, as well as nearly getting killed, you are concerned about _profanities_?"

"Yes. The way someone speaks says a lot about someone's character. You shouldn't curse."

Harry and Neville just stared at her for a minute before both just thought that they should just accept the fact that Hermione still cared about a lot of things that nobody else really gave a crap about. That was just the way things were.

"But still, Dumbledore is untouchable right now. The Minister still relies on him too much to want to put him in Azkaban. As long as the minister relies on him for advice, then Dumbledore will never be arrested and brought to justice. The only way that Dumbledore will be brought off of his pedestal is if the Minister somehow lost his faith in him, and I don't see that happening anytime soon. So we're crap out of luck." Harry said

"Yeah, I guess we are." Neville said "Hey, has anyone seen Luna?"

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her since this morning. She wasn't at lunch. Where do you think she is?" Hermione asked

"I don't know. Can you go check the girl's dorms?" Harry asked

"Yeah."

And so they waited for a couple of minutes while Hermione went to check for Luna in her room. When she came back, she had a confused look on her face.

"What's up?" Harry asked

"Luna wasn't there, but the other first years acted like they knew exactly where she was, the way they were giggling when I asked about her." She said

"Well, I guess the only way that we'll know where she went when she comes back to the Common Room." Neville said

As if some Fate was listening, Luna came back into the Common Room. The only problem was, she was missing most of her uniform and she was crying. Immediately, everybody in the Common Room started laughing. Neville ran forward and gave her his cloak to cover her up, looking at everybody else around him.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?! YOU TAKE JOY IN SEEING SOMEONE TOTALLY HUMILIATED AND FORCED TO TEARS?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!" Neville screamed, leading her up to the boy's dorms

Harry and Hermione shared a look, and silently decided that they should just leave Neville and Luna alone for now. Neville was hot-headed when it came to that girl, and it would probably be best if they didn't do anything to aggravate him right now. Already, they knew that it was best not to get between Neville and Luna when he was pissed off. Unknown to them, everybody did the same to Harry and Hermione when they were pissed off.


	10. Chapter 10

**A.N.: Hey guys, what's up? So, as always, I'm gonna answer your reviews and then I'll get to writing the new chapter. So, here we go.**

 **To Arnold DeVillena: Unfortunately, I do not think that it would be a good idea for Dumbledore to get bitten. We still need him to destroy the Gaunt Ring, as well as teach Harry about Voldemort and the Hocruxes and all that stuff. But as to the knight in shining armor, I figured that someone needed to step up and defend Luna, and judging by how Harry is Hermione's knight in shining armor, Neville was the best choice. Plus, I've always shipped those two, so there's that too.**

 **To ctc1000: I wouldn't say that Neville beat Ron up. All he did was shove Ron into the wall and yelled at him a little. Not really beating him up. And Dumbledore** _ **will**_ **be taken off of his throne.**

 **To Guest: The story will be slowing down as it progresses. At such a young age, there is not too much that I can change, so it's going to be a bit more fast paced. But each year will be taking longer to get through, especially during third year.**

 **To pottersparky: I thought that Neville needed a back bone earlier in the series than Order of the Phoenix, so it might as well start with Luna being bullied. And yes, I did see Fantastic Beasts. I still love the end of the movie when *SPOILER FOR WHOEVER HAS NOT SEEN THE MOVIE* Jacob had been obliviated, but when he sees Queenie, he gives a small smile, like he's remembering. Plus, I read the book, which is basically written the same way as Cursed Child, and the end says that he remembers something, so things are looking good for them in the sequel.**

 **To Trickster True: The type of relationship that you mentioned is pretty much the same relationship that they had in canon. As of right now, there is not going to be too many romantic things going on, judging by how they are twelve, but there will be more in the future. But I figured that if Luna was in Gryffindor, then the Golden Trio would be able to help her better. Of course Neville is protective of Luna, why the hell wouldn't he be? Oh, and you best believe that her tormentors are going to be getting a wakeup call. And I agree, Dumbledore needs to get a shorter name.**

 **To ElizabethAnneSoph: The Gryffindors will get what's coming to them, Neville and Ron will have their fight eventually, and Senor Dumblefuck is very powerful, so it should not surprise you that he was able to get away from the Wizengamot's power.**

 **To Red Phoenix Dragon: Ron has always thought that he is able to do things that we all know that he isn't. We've all seen what Neville did to a little name calling, imagine what he'll do when he finds who is torturing Luna. Lockhart has always been a prick, and I have plans for him later in the story. Dumbledore will most likely tell Snape that it is okay to kill the Grangers, but I'd be a bit of a dick to give Harry the hope of having a new, loving family, just to have them killed less than a year later, wouldn't I? You'll find some of the ways that Dumbledore escaped judgment soon.**

 **To Beyondthesea16: No he is not.**

 **To 3** **rd** **Guest: Ron is not going to be in the story as a friend of Harry and Hermione's for long. He was only there for a little bit to help them. He is** _ **not**_ **going to become a friend of theirs.**

 **To .940436: I am trying to make this year a little longer than the last, so they will not discover the Chamber for another four chapters at least. I think that Lockhart getting caught with a** _ **first**_ **year is a little low, even for him. I mean, the kid would be eleven years old. If Hermione does not get petrified, then Harry will not be as driven to end the threat of Slytherin's monster, and if Ginny is caught on Halloween, then there is no conflict for the year.**

 **To kpop1392as: I figured that if Luna was in Gryffindor, then her bully problems would be ended a lot sooner than continuing into her sixth year. I also thought that if Harry actually applied himself to his studies, then he would be a lot better equipped to battle Voldemort. And of course Dumblefuck is going to get knocked off of his pedestal. As for occlumency, they will not start to learn probably until when Harry actually learns it, so probably not until their fifth year, which is not going to start for a while.**

 **To mwinter1, Princesakarlita411, gabrieljuarezl, Cheryl, other Guest, RCPMione, and .9081323: The Neville and Luna relationship will be broadened throughout the story, as well as Luna's problems with bullies.**

 **Also, one more thing before you guys start reading, what would you guys think if I started another story? I've got a couple different ideas floating around my head and was wondering what you guys would think if I started to write another story. Of course, I'll still be posting chapters to this story, but I think it would be a good idea to start other stories, so that way you guys get more than just the same plot whenever I post. I just wanted to know what you guys would think about it, so I hope I get some of your feedback. So, without further ado, I'll let you guys get to reading. Feel free to leave a review, send a PM, and of course, enjoy. Until next time, OPKILLERFROST, out.**

The next morning, Harry woke up to the sound of crying coming from Neville's bed. Looking over, he saw that Luna was sitting on the bed with Neville.

"Please don't make me go back there!"

"Luna, it can't be that bad. You've only been there for one day."

"They make fun of me. They kept taking my things and hiding them all over the castle! I still don't know where the picture of my mother is! They said to look around the seventh floor, but when I went looking, all I found is a blank wall! They are torturing me there, especially Ginny. She's so angry at me because of how close I am to Harry. Why is she so mean to me just because of that? What is so special about being friends with Harry? The fact that he's the Boy-Who-Lived?"

"I'm sorry, Luna. I can't change the fact that they are mean to you. People are going to be petty over stupid things. That's just the way that people are. I'm sorry that I can't change that and make things better for you. The most that I can do is what I did last night. I can't do much more without getting in trouble and having points taken away. I want to make your life better here, but I don't want to become a pariah in the process."

"Then there's nothing more you can do. The only person that can help me is Professor Dumbledore and from what you, Harry, and Hermione have told me, he is not going to want to help someone who he thinks is going to hamper the ideas that he has in place for Harry. I'm just going to have to learn how to live like this for the next seven years. At least there is a two month reprieve during the summer."

"Luna, I am going to find you a way out of this situation. You are not going to spend the next nine months in a living hell. I am going to find you a way out of this, I promise you."

Luna just sighed and got up to go back to her room. It was sad to think that the other girls in her year were making fun of her for being who she was and the fact that she was friends with Harry Potter. After Luna left, Harry got up and started to get ready for the day, sending sympathetic glances towards Neville. He wanted to help the round-faced boy, but he just did not know how. For now though, he was going to go see Hermione and hope that this would be a regular school year.

-oO0Oo.-

It was now Saturday, five days after the start of term, and Harry was already annoyed with the school year. So far, his week had been pretty crappy. First off, he had Colin Creevy, who was a Boy-Who-Lived fanboy, following him around from class to class. Then, there was having to deal with Ron's broken wand exploding every other class, once even leaving Professor Flitwick with a boil on his forehead when the wand flung from Ron's hands. Finally, there was dealing with Lockhart, who still seemed to think that Harry was out for attention and wanted to groom him in the ways of dealing with fame. The thing was, Harry hated his fame. He could not even remember what he was famous for, yet people were losing their minds because of it. If only someone other than Hermione could realize that Harry hated his fame, everything might have been alright. But with only Hermione in his corner, things were hard. Even Neville, who he thought of as one of his best friends, seemed to get jealous of him sometimes. If only he knew what it was like to be famous for something and to not grow up with your parents. Only then would Neville be able to truly understand. Until then, Harry would just have to live with Hermione being in his corner. Not like he was complaining, because there could be a lot of worse people behind him than Hermione. When Harry was woken on Saturday morning, he was hoping that it was so that he could get to spend more time with Hermione, but it was just Oliver.

"Whassamatter?" Harry asked as he came out of his slumber

"Quidditch Practice! Come on!"

When Harry looked out the window, Harry saw that the sun had just begun to rise over the horizon. Groaning, Harry dragged himself out of bed as Oliver explained why he was waking Harry up at the crack of dawn. As Harry left the dorms, he saw Hermione waiting for him. His mood instantly got better.

"Hey. What are you doing up so early? You're not usually up for another hour." Harry said

"Yes, but, I heard Oliver talking last night about how he was going to be getting everyone on the team together early this morning, and I decided that I was going to come and watch you guys practice. It's either that, or sit inside and read." Hermione said

"Hermione Granger is turning down the opportunity to read? Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?"

That made Hermione blush and Harry laughed. Together, they walked down to the Quidditch Pitch, and separated when Harry had to go to the locker room to change. When Harry arrived there, everyone else was already changed into their Quidditch robes. There were multiple boards behind Oliver and the rest of the team looked like they were about to pass out. Oliver then started to explain the first of multiple boards, which took almost half an hour. Then there was a second board. And then a third. Harry was about to fall asleep when Wood finally asked if there were any questions. With there being none aside from George's comment about wanting to sleep more, the team headed out onto the Pitch. When they stepped out of the locker room, Harry saw that the sun had completely risen while they were in there. Spotting Hermione in the stands, he gave a smile and a wave, which she enthusiastically returned. That was when Harry noticed that Colin Creevy was in the stands also. And what else would he be holding in his hand but his infamous camera? Trying to ignore the first year, Harry kicked off the ground and started to do laps with the rest of the team. This quickly became a race between Harry and the Weasley twins, one that Harry could have easily won, but only ran at half speed. Unfortunately, the practice was interrupted when the clicks from Colin's camera were amplified in the empty arena. When Wood started to make assumptions that Colin was a Slytherin spy, Harry's day took a turn for the worse.

"He's in Gryffindor." Harry said

"And the Slytherins don't need a spy, Oliver." George said

"What makes you say that?" Wood asked

"Because they're here in person."

The seven Gryffindors flew to the ground to tell the Slytherins that they could just sod off. That was when they learned that the Slytherin team had a new Seeker in the form of Draco Malfoy. And to make sure that his son remained on the team, Lucius bought the entire team Nimbus Two-Thousand and Ones. The confrontation was only made worse when Hermione came down to the Pitch to find out what was going on.

"Why aren't you guys practicing? And what is _he_ doing here?" Hermione asked, pointing at Malfoy

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Granger. Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team." Draco said

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to _buy_ their way in. _They_ got in on pure talent."

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood." Malfoy spat

If Harry was pissed before, he was absolutely livid now. While the other six members of the Slytherin team were busy keeping Fred and George from attacking Malfoy, this left Harry and Hermione the perfect chance to get their revenge. Seeing them coming, Draco's pale face drained of whatever blood was behind it, and tried to run. He did not get very far before Hermione hit him with the Leg-Locker. The poor Slytherin hit the ground and twisted around to face Hermione and Harry. Before he could even get a word out, Harry jumped on him, punching Malfoy in the face repeatedly. The only thing that stopped him was when Flint looked behind him and saw what Harry was doing. Flint then charged at Harry, tackling him to the ground, and started to wail on him. That did not go on for more than a couple of seconds when the heel of Hermione's shoe was introduced to Flint's jaw. The crack that followed was enough to make everyone stop what they were doing and look over. Flint looked back up at Hermione, and everyone could see the swelling on the right side of his face beginning, along with the perfect impression of her Converse. Seeing what she did to their Captain, who was the biggest of them all, the other Slytherins grabbed Draco and Flint and took off. They were going to have a hard time explaining to Madam Pomfrey why Flint had a broken jaw and why Draco looked like he just went three rounds in a cage match against Mike Tyson and Bruce Lee. After they fled, Hermione ran to Harry who was bleeding from the nose, as well as around his eyes from where his glasses had been forced into his skin. It was only a miracle that neither of the lens broke. Hermione cast a quick _Repairo_ , and Harry's glasses were as good as new. By this time, the rest of the Gryffindors had walked over, Fred and George sporting some bruises from where some of the Slytherins had hit them.

"Geez. Remind me to never get on your bad side." George said

"Too right, mate. I pity the man who tries to force her into sex." Fred said

"Well, if that were to happen, they would have to deal with Harry first." Alicia said

"But then again, Hermione would already be there, so it would be more like Harry would just enforce the issue." Angelina said

"Guys, guys, guys. You are all forgetting one key detail. Who says she's going to be in that kind of position with anybody but Harry?" Katie said

By this point, both twelve-year-olds were burning red from embarrassment. They could barely look at each other. The main thing that was going through Harry's head was _She'll never want to do that with me. I live with her in the summer! She probably sees me as more of a brother._ Meanwhile, all Hermione could think about was _Don't let Harry know you like him. Don't let Harry know you like him. Don't let Harry know you like him._ Needless to say, the other six Gryffindors were crying with laughter at the sight before them. Now that the Slytherins were gone, Hermione gave Harry a hug, which caused the rest of the team to start whistling and yelling shouts of "About time!" The seven players then got onto their brooms and started to practice their new formations while Harry just practiced finding the Snitch multiple times. An hour and a half later, everybody was on their way to get changed when Hermione came back on the field.

"Harry?"

He turned her way, and saw that she was biting her lip. _God she looks so cute when she does that. No! Stop those thoughts, Potter. She's your best friend, not someone that you are supposed to fall in love with!_ "Yeah Hermione?"

"Would I… uh… wouldIbeabletogoflyingonyourbroomwithyou."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Would I be able to go flying on your broom with you?"

By now, Harry's heart damn near melted when he saw the expression on Hermione's face. "Of course. I might want to go get changed first. I kind of smell bad."

"Okay."

Fifteen minutes later, Harry emerged from the locker room and met Hermione. When she was close, he got on his broom. "Do you want to steer, or just go along for the ride?" Harry asked

"I think for my first time on a broom, I should just let you steer. I don't know what it's like to fly."

"Okay, then hop on the back."

Hermione hesitantly sat on the back of the broom and wrapped her arms around Harry's waist. Once she was safely on the broom, Harry gently kicked off of the ground. As they raised higher, Harry felt Hermione start holding tighter to him and bury her head into his back.

"You okay?" He asked

"Not a big fan of heights." She replied into his shirt

Harry gave a little laugh, and decided that flying as high as the stands was high enough. He did not want to scare her to death after all. He began to start flying laps around the Pitch, and he felt Hermione slowly release her grip from around his waist, and heard her give a soft gasp.

"It's amazing up here."

Harry laughed and started to fly a little higher. After a minute, he started to stray away from the Pitch and started to fly over the lake. He heard Hermione gasp again at the sight of the lake from a bird's eye view.

"I think I'm addicted to flying." She said with an amazed look on her face

At this, Harry learned something. He was completely and utterly in love with Hermione Jean Granger. Unbeknownst to either of them, Professor McGonagall and Flitwick were watching them from Minerva's office.

"I bet you fifty galleons that they are going to be dating by the end of the year." Filius said

"I'd give it the end of fourth year. While he possesses courage, Potter is not going to act on his feelings for a long time. Look how long it took James to finally tell Lily how he really felt."

"I say that they will begin their relationship the end of their third year." Fred Weasley said from behind them, startling both teachers

"That's where you're wrong, Forge. I give it to the end of fifth year." George said

"On the other hand, Harry might be able to not be so daft after all. What do you say to that, Gred?"

"I'm sticking with my earlier guess. Fifty says that they get together at the end of fifth year."

"Fifty says they admit their attraction at the end of next year."

"BOTH OF YOU GET OUT NOW!" McGonagall yelled

"Jeez, Professor, we were just trying to add more money to the pool." Gred said as he left the room

0Oo.-

"Harry?" Hermione asked

The two of them were sitting in the Common Room, the day after their flight around the grounds.

"Yeah, Hermione?"

"What would you think if I tried out for the Quidditch team?"

"I would say that it would be a cool idea to have you on the team, but it seems that Oliver is kind of set on his 'dream team' of the seven of us. I don't think that you'll get much playing time."

"Well, then I will just be practicing until Angelina and Katie graduate. Then I'll probably be able to play a little more."

"Alright. I think you should go talk to Oliver about it. I'm sure he would be happy to add you to the team."

"Thanks Harry!" She said, giving him a kiss on the cheek before running off to find Oliver.

Across the room, Gred and Forge shared a look, like they were silently arguing over when the two younger Gryffindors were going to get together.

0Oo.-

It was September 19th, and Harry was excited. His gift for Hermione had come in three days ago, and it had been quite the challenge to sneak it past Hermione and all the boys in his dormitory. But today was finally the day that he could give it to her. Grabbing the long, thin package from under his bed, he headed down the stairs to meet Hermione. She was already there, as usual. When she saw him coming, she saw what he had in his hands, and got confused before her mouth dropped.

"Harry! You did _not_ get me a broom for my birthday."

Harry just gave her a sheepish smile and held the package out for her to take. When she took hold of it, she started to take the paper off of the outside of the gift. When she finally got all of the paper off, she was able to see that Harry had gotten her a Cleansweep 17. She tried to form words, but her brain just was not able to get the message from her brain to her lips.

"It has a top speed of eighty-five miles an hour **(almost 137 km for those of you who know the metric system better)** and has the best breaking system of all the Cleansweeps."

"Harry. You shouldn't have gotten this. How much did this cost?"

"Don't worry about it. It's a gift."

"Harry. How much was it."

"Hermione, don't worry about it."

"Harry, how. Much. Was. It."

"About a hundred fifty galleons."

"HARRY! How could you spend that much money just for a gift for me? I can't accept this!"

"Please, Hermione? I did this so that way you can have your own broom for when you play for the house team."

"But Harry, you shouldn't have spent this much on me! I'm not worth spending most of your money on!"

"Okay, one, you are _totally_ worth spending that much money on. You're my best friend, the smartest witch in the school, you have an amazing personality, and you're…. you're just Hermione. There's no better way to explain it. And two, I know you haven't seen my vault yet, but I barely put a dent into it buying that broom. My parents were apparently pretty wealthy because there is about three times Dudley's body weight in gold in that vault."

"You still shouldn't have spent that money on me, Harry. I'm not worth it."

"How many times do I have to say to you that you are worth it, Hermione! Why don't you think that you are worth it?"

"Because I'm nothing but a boring old bushy-headed bookworm."

"Hermione, you are so much more than just a bookworm. You are the best friend that someone could ask for, you are so far from boring that it is not even funny, and I like to think that your hair is more untamable than bushy. Don't sell yourself short, Hermione."

Hermione wasn't able to form words, she just nodded and sat down, admiring her new broom. She was looking at everything from the polished handle to the very tips of the bristles. It seemed that she was for the first time noticing just how nice her new broom was. She finally looked up, showing Harry that she had tears in her eyes.

"Thank you, Harry."

"Wanna go try it out?" He asked

"Yes."

And that was how they spent the rest of the day. They went down to the Quidditch Pitch and just flew around, enjoying themselves. Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall started to worry that Flitwick's prediction was more accurate. After all, it did seem that Potter and Granger were growing closer by the day. Who knows how long it will be before they finally realize the affection they shared for each other?


	11. Chapter 11

**A.N.: Hey guys, what's up? So since it is my spring break, I am going to try and get at least two other chapters up before Sunday night. Might only get one other, but I am going to try and go for at least two. I think it would be cool to hear when you guys think that Harry and Hermione are going to get together. Now, onto the reviews. Just letting you guys know now, some are pretty long, so you might want to start scrolling if you do not want to read any of these, or if you are just trying to find the reply that pertains to your review.**

 **To Gime'SS: You are welcome.**

 **To Princesakarlita411: You will just have to wait and see if things will get better for Luna. I am glad you liked the Harry/Hermione interaction because there is going to be a lot more of it before this story is over.**

 **To Arnold DeVillena: I figured that one thing that would have made Hermione's character better was if she was on the Quidditch team with Harry. It would help her understand him better, as well as help prevent their fight in third year over the Firebolt.**

 **To kpop1392as: I thought it would be a nice piece of comedy for the professors to make bets. McGonagall and Flitwick are probably my favorite teachers, even if you do not see as much of Flitwick as you do McGonagall. Plus, with the twins being there, it makes it all that much better. Hermione will probably have to be a Chaser, because of the fact that Harry is a Seeker, Oliver is the Keeper, and the twins are the Beaters. And of course she is going to make the team better. How can you be the smartest kid in school and not make your Quidditch team better? You will also see more of Luna's problems and how she faces them in the coming chapters.**

 **To Cheryl: Again, it was just another way to make Hermione's character better than in canon.**

 **To Guestapo: Hermione will get back into her groove soon enough. With Harry moving in permanently and with everything else that has been going on, she has fallen a bit behind on reading up on Fourth Year Ancient Runes. They will learn to defend themselves eventually, but not right now. It is not that vital, so it can be saved for later.**

 **To ElizabethAnneSoph: Of course Harry getting Hermione a broom will make them grow closer. As to how soon they will get together, you will just have to wait and see.**

 **To Red Phoenix Dragon: I might go with the house elf idea, since Neville is a pureblood and should know about the house elves. Unfortunately, that is just the way that the twinkly-eyed dickhead is. As for their punishment, I am going to go with ThunderSphinx's idea that they did not tell Snape because they did not want to admit that they, as purebloods, got their asses handed to them by what they consider a lowly half-blood and "mudblood". And of course Ginny is going to be jealous over the fact that Harry got Hermione a present and is not paying attention to her.**

 **To ThunderClaw03: Is what too late on Hermione's end? Joining the Quidditch team? And I am still on the fence about them becoming animagus. I am going to give it more thought and decide at a later time.**

 **To ObsessedWithHPFanFic: Alright, I am going to just reply to all of them in one big thing. Percy did not do much because he saw what he knew were two muggle-raised kids and then Draco Malfoy, who is raised on the idea that purebloods are superior, so he decided he was going to help the two kids and not get them in trouble. As for Harry telling a professor, he has not done that yet, and do not think that Hermione has not noticed. They are going to have another conversation about it at some point. I made Dan a nice guy in this story, and I think that I am going to keep him that way in all the other stories that I write in the future. Of course Dumblefuck is adamant about Harry staying at the Dursleys. Did you see what he did in the summer before his fifth year to make sure that he stayed out of the loop with no way to get out of there? I had to add in a part where Dumbledore is being delusional and think that he can just do whatever the hell he wants and think that Harry is trying to change things because he is the famous Harry Potter. I was thinking of things that would cause Harry to be taken away from the Dursleys without having Dudley taken away so he can be punished too, and I figured that Harry being beaten was the best option. Sure, it was terrible to him, but he was helped soon after, so it was not that bad in the long run. Of course Dumbledore is being held accountable for his actions. It will be revealed how he got away later in the story. I thought that Luna being in Gryffindor would allow her to be protected better, but I knew that it was vital to her character to be bullied. It is an important part of her character and needs to happen. And as for Dumbledore, he is just too powerful and influential to be put in Azkaban that simply. Things will get better for Luna, but it will take time. Harry and Hermione will only proceed to get closer as time goes on.**

 **To bensdad: I am glad that you like that everybody is just a little OOC. And sorry about the reviews at the beginning. I know it is a little annoying to scroll through in the beginning, but it is just the way that I have always done it. And a lot of the reviews do relate to the story because a lot of them give me ideas for how to write future chapters, and I find it best to write them before the story so that way everyone knows that I value what they write about this story and not that I wrote the replies at the end as an afterthought.**

 **To serenityselena: If you think that this is twists, just wait for when they start to get older and their hormones really kick in. That is what is going to be the most fun to write about.**

 **To Deathmvp: I like to think that all the changes I make are more of a butterfly effect. The simple thing of Hermione meeting Harry first at the station means that he does not become friends with Ron. Luna being sorted into Gryffindor means that she will have a closer relationship to the Golden Trio.**

 **To ThunderSphinx: Oh boy, this is probably going to be the longest one. I know that Quirrell was a Muggle Studies professor for years, but I figured that it would be better to make him more of a shady character if he was new guy and that nobody knew who he really was. I know that Star Wars was not renamed A New Hope until '97, as well as the fact that The Phantom Menace was not released until '99, but as I have stated, the story takes place ten years later than it did in canon. Sorry that I cannot change it, because there are already elements into the story that are from the 21** **st** **Century and it would be a really annoying hassle to have to go through every chapter and fix it. Harry/Hermione is my favorite pairing so I am doing my best to make this a really good Harmony story. I also thought that it would be best to have his first decent Christmas to be with non-other than Hermione Granger and her parents. I know that Gryffindor lost the Quidditch Cup in my story, but they tend to do that in a lot of others, not to mention the fact that they even lost it in canon. There will be six other chances for him to win the Quidditch Cup. Just because of the fact that Dumbles is a little angry at Harry does not mean that he will not show him favoritism in an attempt to win him over. And even though Harry is still smarter in this timeline, he still is a little forgetful from time to time. I know that Attack of the Clones did not come out until 2002, but the story also takes place in the 2000's and not the 1990's. It is alright that you yelled. I find it cool that you are that passionate about Harry winning the Cup. Sorry to say that Dumbles did not keep him asleep, but who is to say that someone else did? I am sure that Snape would have been very nervous to find that Potter was going to be on the Gryffindor team for the finals. I used to be the same way. In the books, Dumbledore seemed so nice and caring for Harry, but now that I think about it, everything he did was manipulative and a lot of bad things could have been prevented if Dumbledore was just a little different. Thanks for the rating, but I have to ask, is it really that important that the story takes place ten years later? I think that it makes the story just a little bit better. I know Dudley is a child. That was a mistake on my part, but I am going to fix it later on in the story. I know that Madam Bones was older than Sirius in canon, but I am changing that up for the story. She is really only a year younger than Sirius. And nowhere in the books does it say that she did not live with her aunt. Plus, with the way that Amelia's middle name is Susan, it can be assumed that Susan was named for her aunt's middle name. All the more reason to say that she lives with Amelia. Nice idea with Sirius meeting the Dursleys. Definitely going to happen. Sirius will escape from Azkaban. Seems kind of mean to rob him of the title of the first person to escape Azkaban. What better way to show up a pureblood than to have their ass kicked by a muggle? And who says that Gryffindor is going to be denied the trophy just because Ginny is possessed. As a football player for my school, I can say that football is one of the most important things in my life. Marvel is kind of up there. Loved the Thor: Ragnarok trailer, especially the "We're friends from work!" comment. Snyder just is not doing to the DC universe justice –pun intended- by going from Man of Steel straight to Batman vs. Superman with nothing more than "He destroyed Metropolis in his fight with Zod." Thing fueling Batman's rage, and then deciding not to kill Supes just because of the fact that he says "Martha"? That was just horrible, but I digress. Had to have the barrier at least close a little, but not enough to keep everyone out. I never wrote that the Gryffindors picked on Hermione. The Slytherins, yes, but Gryffindors- no. That was Luna. As for Gryffindor taking care of their own, even they love the idea of a good practical joke. As for Ginny being controlled by the diary, that is a no-go. She is just jealous that Luna is closer to Harry than she is. You are welcome for Hermione playing Quidditch. Also, later in the story when they are older, it is just another time for Harry to get flustered when they are changing. I do not know about Neville being on the team. I never really saw him as a Quidditch player. I think him and Luna will just have to be supporters from the stands. I am pretty sure that they did have reserves, but Oliver was just happy with the team that he had, and knew that almost any injury could be fixed with the wave of Madam Pomfrey's wand or a cup of potion. Of course I will not cancel the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Without that, it is just a normal average year, which is impossible for Harry Potter to have. I might still have the Inter-House Quidditch Cup go on, I do not know about that yet. I thought that Harry and Hermione exchanging gifts was something that would bring them closer faster. I know that a lot of you guys want Dumbledore hurt by the basilisk, but he has to stay awake to remain as the manipulative old bastard that he is. Of course Harry is going to face the basilisk alone. It would not be right to have Hermione or Neville there. That was something that Harry had to do alone. Obviously Dumbledore could not be punished too severely, he is just too powerful. And of course Harry is incredibly rich. The vault that he is taking money out of now is just his trust vault. That is just what he has to use until he is seventeen and then he gets everything that is in the Potter Vault. Plus, there needs to be a scene where Hermione's jaw drops and her eyes go wide when she sees Potter Manor's library. As I said earlier, I am going with your idea of the Slytherins not admitting they got their asses handed to them by a muggle born and a half-blood. Oh, Ron is going to have a lot of problems with his wand before the year is out. And no, Snape is not controlling Dumbles. It is the other way around. That is the only sensible way for that to work. It is not them wanting to wait until fifth year, it is about them not realizing that they need it until that late. I think I will have them befriend the Slytherins. There will probably be some kind of conflict between Harry and Hermione- they cannot be all lovey-dovey the entire time, after all- and that is when Hermione will start to hang out with them and then Harry will get to know them when he and Hermione make up. I do not think that I am going to make Luna a magizoologist, probably more of the Care of Magical Creatures professor when Hagrid retires. That way she and Neville can be together a lot more. And of course she is going to keep her last name. Luna Longbottom just does not have the same ring to it as Luna Lovegood. And of course there is going to be bets among teachers. Some students are even going to chip in, not just the twins.**

 **To Kittens Kat: I am going to try and keep Harry and Hermione's relationship the way it is as much as possible. Y'know, the way they interact and get flustered around each other. They will get together before the end of the Horcrux hunt, so do not worry about that.**

 **Alright, even though that took forever to get through, the replies are finally done. As I said in the last chapter, I am going to start another Harry Potter story soon, and I was wondering what you guys thought would be good ideas as to how I can make it different from canon** _ **and**_ **this story. Let me know what you guys think. So, feel free to leave a review, send a PM, and of course, enjoy. Until next time, OPKILLERFROST, out.**

It was October First, and Oliver had finally agreed to see how Hermione was on a broom. What he saw honestly surprised him. She was like a natural, flying as good as Angelina and better than Alicia. Hermione even handled catching and throwing the Quaffle like a pro. The only downside was that Alicia had to be cut from the team to allow Hermione to play. It was safe to say that Alicia did not get cut quietly. There was a large shouting match in the Gryffindor Common room about the matter.

"Why the bloody hell am I being cut so she can play? I've been on the team three years, Oliver! Shouldn't that count for something?" Alicia yelled

"Not when the second year I just watched is better at flying than you. Sure, you've been on the team, but when I see someone that is better than someone on my team, then they are going to start playing over the person that is already on the team. That's the way things work. You can be in reserves for when Angelina, Hermione, or Katie get injured, but unless they get injured, they are going to be starting over you. That's just the way things go." Oliver said calmly

"That is a load of bull! I have been on the team longer, so I should get to start over her! This is unfair! You want to cut me?! You can go show your broomstick up your-"

"Miss Spinnet! That is ten points from Gryffindor for crude language!" Professor McGonagall said, stepping into the Common Room. "I came to congratulate Miss Granger on securing a spot on our Quidditch team. I did not come here, however, to hear you voice about how it is unfair that you are being cut from the team. If Mister Wood determines that Miss Granger is a better player, then she is going to start over you. That is just the way things are, and you are going to have to deal with it."

"But that is so unfair!"

"Life is not fair, Miss Spinnet."

With that being said, Alicia stormed up to the girl's dormitories, tears started to leak from her eyes.

Two weeks later, and there was another incident. Luna came into the Common Room with the word "Looney" written on her forehead. When she entered, everybody was speechless. While the first few jokes were funny, now they were getting just downright horrible. People were tormenting Luna by now. It needed to stop. A seventh year student stepped forward and muttered a charm that would remove the marker from Luna's forehead. Luna muttered her thanks before walking to her dorm room. After she left, people started to talk.

"Who would do that to her?"

"At first it was funny, but now it's just sad."

"She's being tormented, is what's happening."

"Maybe we should tell McGonagall. She'll know how to help her."

"The only way that anybody is telling anyone anything is if Luna says it's okay. It's her business, not yours. Gossip all you want, but if she isn't comfortable involving a teacher, then you better not do it." Neville said before walking off

Everyone in Gryffindor was starting to become nervous around Neville. They knew that with Luna being tormented, it was only a matter of time before he snapped and started to jinx anyone he thought was involved in her humiliation. As time went on, more and more people were starting to avoid talking to Neville. Pretty soon, it was just Harry, Hermione, and Luna. It was a little sad, but at least people knew that Neville meant business. Well, everyone except Ginny. No matter what happened, it seemed that Ginny was not afraid of Neville's threats and would continue to follow her path to humiliate Luna as much as possible to make her feel bad for ever trying to get close to Harry. Ginny would torment Hermione, but she knew that if she tried that, she would get caught and then she would lose her chance with Harry forever, and she could not have that. She would get Harry Potter one way or another.

0Oo.-

For the first two months of the school year, everything was normal for Harry. Classes were the same, Snape was a git, Lockhart was as fake as ever, and Malfoy was, as always, the pompous prick that he was. But then Halloween came. As usual, Harry never liked the day, but today, that was made worse by the fact that he had double Potions with Snape today. Harry knew that it was only going to be so long into the class that Snape made some remark about his parents, and that would only make Harry feel worse than he already did. If only Harry knew just how right he would be.

The class had only begun for ten minutes, with Snape turning them loose to make the potion on the board. Harry was working with Hermione, as usual, but Harry was barely doing any work due to him just wanting to stay in bed. It was only unfortunate that this caught Snape's attention.

"Don't feel like doing any work today, Potter? Just like your father, thinking you can just not do work and get away with it. Five points from Gryffindor."

Harry did not care, he just kept moving at the same pace as he always was, preparing ingredients that were three steps ahead of Hermione so that by the time that they were ready, Hermione would be ready to add them to the potion.

"I do not see how you could be your mother's son, Potter. All that talent for Potions put to waste."

Again, Harry did nothing. He continued to prepare ingredients for the potion, but Hermione was throwing worried looks his way. She knew that Harry would be able to take Snape's bashing of his parents only so much before he burst and retaliated.

"I'm sorry, Potter, but were you not raised to look at someone when they are addressing you? Or are you going to mimic your father and not show respect to your elders as he did?"

"You have to have respect for someone in order to show it, Professor." Harry said quietly

"One hundred points from Gryffindor. You should watch the way you speak to your elders, Potter."

Harry just remained quiet and did not retaliate to Snape's point reduction. Everyone thought that it was unfair, but they knew better than to argue with Snape. It would only result in more points being deducted from Gryffindor. So they all just sat back and gritted their teeth as Snape continued to make Harry feel even worse than he already did. The only thing that saved Harry was the bell sounding a minute later. As they all left the classroom, Malfoy just had to get one more comment in before they parted ways.

"Too bad that your parents aren't here to coddle their ickle-Harrikins. Guess you'll just have to live with learning to respect your elders, Potter."

"You know, Malfoy, you would think that after both Harry and I left you a bloody mess, _twice_ I might add, that you would learn to leave us alone before it happened for a third time." Hermione said

That got Draco to back off. He knew all too well that Hermione Granger would fulfill her promise to beat him to bloody mess again. But that did not mean that he would not mess with them in other ways. It was time that he got Parkinson and Bulstrode to start tormenting Lovegood even more.

0Oo.-

Later that night, Harry and Hermione were walking into the Great Hall just as Luna was rushing out, Neville hot on her heels. Standing just a few feet inside were Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode, laughing like hyenas.

"What'd you do to Luna?" Hermione said

"Oh, we didn't do nothing but tell her the truth, Granger." Bulstrode said

"What did you tell her?!"

"We just told her that the only reason that you and Potter are friends with her is because you pity her."

Not even bothering with the two of them, Hermione and Harry ran from the Great Hall and ran all the way to the Gryffindor Common Room. They got there just in time to see Neville sliding down the stairs to the Girl's Dorm.

"Luna, come on! Come down! I can't come up there, so you have to come down!"

"Neville, let me!"

"Right, like that will help right now. You're the reason that she's crying right now!"

"Neville, are you really going to yell at me for something that Pug-Faced Pansy and Ox-Built Bulstrode made up to make her cry? Harry and I are friends with Luna for who she is, not because we pity her for what happened to her as a kid. Do you really believe that we would be so shallow as to just be friends with her because of pity? I thought you knew us better than that!"

"Hermione, lately it's just been you and Harry, leaving me to deal with the bullying that Luna has had to put up with! I thought I knew you better than to leave your friends behind. You and Harry have been off doing whatever while I have had to keep a depressed Luna from hurting herself! Where were you when she came to me crying when they took her shoes? Where were you when they took the last remaining photo of her mother? Where were you when they threw her out of the dorms in nothing but her underwear? You were with Harry, doing God knows what. I thought that you actually cared about your friends, Hermione."

By now, Hermione was crying. Neville was right, by all accounts. Harry and Hermione had forgotten all about Luna and Neville. How could they do that to their friends? How could they get so caught up in whatever they were doing that they would stop thinking about their friends? Hermione looked to Harry for support, but saw that he had a scared look on his face.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked

"It's gonna kill, Hermione. It's gonna kill someone."

"What is, Harry?"

"I don't know, but it's coming for someone. It wants blood and it's going to get it."


	12. Chapter 12

**A.N.: Hey guys, what's up? So after receiving so many reviews about it, I am putting the review responses at the end of the chapter. I know I said I want to do it at the beginning, but I can see how it can be annoying to scroll through the responses just to get to reading the chapter. So for those of you that wanted them at the end, your wish has been granted. So, feel free to leave a review, send a PM, and of course, enjoy.**

"Harry, what do you mean 'it wants blood'?" Hermione asked

"I just heard a voice… it- it said that it wanted blood. That it was going to kill."

Hermione could tell that Harry was pretty shaken up. If he was able to go toe-to-toe with Voldemort, accidentally kill a professor and not seem too shaken up about it, she was wondering what in the world would be able to scare Harry this much.

"Harry, hearing voices is not normal, even by wizarding standards. There's only a couple of things that allow you to hear other's thoughts, like Legilimency, an invisible ghost, Parseltongue…"

"What was that last one?" Harry asked

"An invisible ghost?" Neville asked, confused

"No, the other one."

"Parseltongue? It's the ability to talk with snakes. It's really rare, and when it is seen, it is not seen as a good thing."

"Why not?" Hermione asked

"Because Salazar Slytherin was able to do it, and well, so was You-Know-Who."

"Neville, it's okay to say his name. A name only holds as much power as you let it." Harry said "But this thing, I think I can do it. Last year, I accidentally set a snake on my cousin at the zoo, but before that, I spoke to it and it understood me."

"Harry, that isn't seen as a good thing. People won't react well to it. If anything, some people will just use it as a way to make you seem like you're not the wizarding world's golden boy. It wouldn't be a good thing if people found out."

"Thanks, Neville. Wow, it feels like earlier this year, when we were all still friends. Now, how about we get Luna back down here, so that we can finally work things out and be able to be friends again."

"I'll tell her you are gone so that she will come down here."

And he did just that. About a minute later, Luna appeared at the bottom of the staircase, her eyes still red from crying. When she saw that Harry and Hermione were still in the Common Room, she had half a mind to walk back upstairs and ignore everybody for the rest of the night.

"Luna, wait! We wanted to say that we were sorry for the way that we've been acting the past two months. We know that it was wrong to ignore you and Neville with the way that we have, we were just so caught up in the fun of the Quidditch team and everything else, we were stupid and forgot our friends." Hermione said

"So just like that, Neville and I are supposed to forgive you? I have been made fun of and tormented for months! And you two have just been in your happy little world full of Quidditch and friendship, and we have been forced to deal with the cruelty of Draco Malfoy and whatever Ginny Weasley can throw at us, which believe me, is a lot." Luna said

"Luna, we're sorry. Please, we realize that we've been stupid, and that we should be treating you better, but we can't change the past. The only way we can move forward is to have your forgiveness so that we can be friends again."

"Hermione, how can we forgive you when you have forgotten us? How can we forgive you when we were forced to deal with cruelty while you lived in your happy little fantasy?"

"Please, Luna. We're sorry for what we have done. Please, forgive us. We want to help you now. Please, Luna."

"You promise that you won't forget us again?"

"We promise."

"Fine."

Once they had all made up, they started to make their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. The only problem was that they managed to find their way standing in front of the body of Mrs. Norris. She was hanging from one of the braizers, her blood on the wall, forming a message on the wall. Then on top of finding the body of Filch's cat, the feast had just ended, and now the entire school had just stumbled upon what looked like the murder of Mrs. Norris, and it looked like Harry and his friends did it. Things were not looking good for them at the moment. The entire school was silent, right up until someone shouted out.

"Enemies of the heir beware! You'll be next, mudbloods!" Draco Malfoy shouted

The pompous prince of Slytherin pushed his way to the front of the crowd, his usually white face red with excitement. Unfortunately, this brought Filch to the front of the crowd, no doubt wondering what all the commotion was about, wondering why students were out of bed and in the corridors. When he saw his cat, he flipped out and was about to attack Harry when Professor Dumbledore approached, preventing the caretaker from doing any bodily harm to Harry. After doing so, Dumbledore pulled Mrs. Norris off of the bracket and led them to Lockhart's office. After looking over the cat, it was discovered that she was merely petrified, not dead as everyone believed. But that wasn't even the strangest part of the night. Snape actually started to stick up for them when Filch tried to place the blame on Harry! He suggested, "Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time." The four friends looked at each other, wondering what Snape had eaten at the feast to be sticking up for them like this. Unfortunately, their false sense of hope was squashed when Snape continued to question them further about why they weren't at the feast, and instead outside of a girl's bathroom. They quickly made up some lie about Hermione having a stomachache, and them being good friends, they made sure that they got her to the bathroom.

"Then why not use one of the restrooms on the lower level? Why come up to the first floor when you could have gone to a closer one on the ground level?"

Thankfully, they were saved by McGonagall telling Severus off for questioning them so harshly, reminding him that they were only twelve years old. After that, Snape suggested that Harry and Hermione be suspended from the team until they were entirely truthful. That idea was squashed too, and the children were allowed to go to bed. But as they were walking back to the dorms, they were wondering, who or _what_ had petrified Mrs. Norris?

.oO0Oo.

That Saturday, Harry woke up, ready to take on Slytherin. He headed down to the Great Hall, where he found that most of the team was already there. Hermione looked just about as nervous as you would expect, this being her first game. One breakfast was over, the team went to the locker room to change. Once everyone was in their robes, Wood gave his usual pep-talk. Once they were all semi-fired up, they mounted their brooms and flew out into the stadium. They all listened to Madam Hooch tell them the usual speech, and she threw the ball into the air. That was when it happened. Hermione froze, rather than rush forward and take the ball like she was supposed to. Instead, one of the Slytherin Chasers was able to move forward and take the ball. As the game progressed around her, Hermione was still frozen in the same spot. Harry was about to fly down to see what was wrong before a Bludger nearly removed his head from his shoulders. George flew by and beat it towards Marcus Flynt, but the ball stopped halfway there and turned around, heading right back towards Harry. He dodged it again, but the damn thing kept flying after him. No matter what Harry tried, the damn ball continued to fly after him, not giving up. But that didn't stop Harry. He kept flying around until he finally found the Snitch. It was right behind Malfoy's left ear.

"What's the matter, Potter? Scared of a little Bludger?"

Instead of answering, Harry rushed forward and flew right at Malfoy, who got scared and dove to another direction. Meanwhile, Harry started to chase the Snitch. Unfortunately, it didn't take Draco too long to figure out what Harry was doing before he caught up. On the flip side, that Bludger was still chasing Harry, which he used to his advantage. Just as it was coming at their side, ready to hit Harry just as he was about to reach his arm for the Snitch. But instead, Harry pulled back on his broom at the last moment, letting Draco continue forward and get hit by the Bludger. Now that Draco was out of the way, Harry rushed forward and grabbed the Snitch, holding it above his head in victory. That was when he felt the pain in the side of his head and his world went dark.

.oO0Oo.

When Harry woke later that day, he was in the Hospital Wing. _Great, the year has barely begun and I'm already back in here._ That was when he heard the soft snoring off to his side. He saw Hermione sitting on a chair, he head resting against his leg, his hand in hers. She had his invisibility cloak draped over her lap, making her invisible from the waist down. When he saw that she snuck out of Gryffindor Tower to get down to him, he started to get this weird feeling in the middle of his chest. He wasn't used to this feeling, but he had a feeling **(pun intended)** that this was what love felt like. He was overjoyed by her presence, but he also noticed another. Somehow, he had managed to overlook the fact that someone was holding a damp cloth to his head in the dark. When he looked up, he saw two familiar tennis ball-sized green eyes.

"Dobby!" Harry whispered at the House Elf that was above him

The elf yelped, waking Hermione, who looked adorable with the confused expression on her face mixed with the bushy hair that was plastered to her face.

"Harry Potter and his Hermy came back to school. Dobby warned and warned Harry Potter and his Hermy. Ah sir, why didn't either of you heed Dobby? Why didn't Harry Potter and his Hermy go back home when he couldn't get through the barrier?"

Harry pulled himself up so he was sitting, ignoring the throbbing pain on the right side of his head. "What're you doing here? And you did you know we couldn't get through the barrier?" Harry asked

Dobby's lip started to tremble, like he was about to cry. That was when Hermione gasped.

"It was you! You stopped the barrier from letting us through!" She said

"Indeed yes, miss. Dobby hid and watched for Harry Potter and his Hermy and sealed the gateway, but had to open it again when Harry Potter and his Hermy's friends game along. Dobby had to iron his hands afterwards for disobeying his master and for failing to keep Harry Potter and his Hermy off the Hogwarts Express. Dobby was so saddened that he was unable to keep Harry Potter and his Hermy away from Hogwarts that he let his master's dinner burn! Such a flogging Dobby never had, miss."

"You nearly broke Hermione's ribs when we crashed into the barrier. You'd better get lost before my bones come back, Dobby, or I might strangle you."

"Dobby is used to death threats, sir. Dobby gets the five times a day at home."

Dobby then blew his nose on the corner of the pillowcase he was wearing. The thing was filthy and looked like it hadn't been washed since he put it on. There was probably a good chance that it hadn't.

"Why do you wear that thing, Dobby?" Hermione asked

"This, miss? Tis a mark of the house-elf's enslavement, miss. Dobby can only be freed if his masters present him with clothes, miss. The family is careful not to pass Dobby even a sock, miss, for then he would be free to leave their house forever."

Dobby continued to wipe his eyes on the pillowcase, when his head snapped up and looked at Harry. "Harry Potter and his Hermy must go home! Dobby thought his Bludger would be enough to make-"

" _Your_ Bludger? What d'you mean, _your_ Bludger?" Harry asked

"You made that Bludger try and kill Harry!" Hermione practically yelled at Dobby

"Not kill him, miss, never kill him! Dobby wants to saver Harry Potter and his Hermy's life! Better sent home, grievously injured, than remain here, miss! Dobby only wanted Harry Potter hurt enough to be sent home!"

"Oh, is that all? I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you wanted me sent home in pieces?"

"Ah, if Harry Potter only knew! If he knew what he means to us, the lowly, the enslaved, we dregs of the magical world! Dobby remembers how it was when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at the height of his powers, sir! We house-elves were treated like vermin, sir! Of course, Dobby is still treated like that, sir. But mostly, sir, life has improved for my kind since you triumphed over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Harry Potter survived, and the Dark Lord's power was broken, and it was a new dawn, sir, and the Dark days would never end… And now, at Hogwarts, terrible things are to happen, are perhaps happening already, and Dobby cannot let Harry Potter stay here now that History is to repeat itself, now that he Chamber of Secrets is open once more."

It seemed as if the words "Chamber of Secrets" cast a spell on Dobby. He froze, then lunged for Harry's water jug on his bedside table, and used it to hit himself in the head with it. Before they could react, he stopped hitting himself and hauled his small body back onto Harry's bed.

"So there is a Chamber of Secrets? And did you say it's been opened before? Tell me, Dobby!" Harry said

"Ah, sir, ask no more, ask no more of poor Dobby. Dark deeds are planned in this place, but Harry Potter must not be here when they happen- go home, Harry Potter, go home. Harry Potter must not meddle in this, sir, tis too dangerous-"

"Who is it, Dobby? Who's opened it? Who opened it last time?"

"Dobby can't, sir, Dobby can't, Dobby mustn't tell! Go home, Harry Potter, go home!"

"I'm not going anywhere! Hermione is Muggle-born; she'll be first in line if the Chamber really has been opened-"

"Harry Potter risks his own life for his friends! So noble! So valiant! But he must save himself and his Hermy, he must, Harry Potter and his Hermy must not-"

Before Dobby could continue, they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching from outside the Hospital Wing.

"Dobby must go!" Dobby said, and with that, the elf disappeared with a crack. Before Harry and Hermione could do anything, the doors began to open, and teachers started to back in, apparently carrying something. Before they could get into the ward, Harry turned to Hermione.

"Quick! The Cloak!" He said

Hermione scrambled to get the Invisibility Cloak on before the teachers saw her. While she put the Cloak on, Harry laid back down and pretended to sleep. Harry turned his head and opened his eyes just enough for him to see. Dumbledore came in first, carrying what looked like the head of a statue, then it was McGonagall carrying the feet. After they both carried the statue next to a bed, they hauled the statue onto it. Dumbledore told McGonagall to go get Madam Pomfrey before turning his attention back on the statue.

"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey asked the two teachers

"Another attack. Minerva found him on the stairs."

 _If it's another attack, then that's no statue, that's a student!_ Harry thought

"There were a bunch of grapes next to him. We think he was trying to sneak up here to visit Potter."

Feeling a pang of guilt, Harry lifted his head just enough to identify the petrified student. It was none other than Colin Creevey. His eyes were wide and his hands were out in front of him, holding his camera.

"Petrified?" Madam Pomfrey asked

"Yes, but I shudder to think… If Albus hadn't been on the way downstairs for hot chocolate- who knows what might have-"

The three adults stared down at the young First Year for a minute before Dumbledore leaned down and took the camera out of Colin's grip.

"You don't think he managed to get a picture of his attacker?" Professor McGonagall asked

Not answering, Dumbledore just opened the back of the camera, a jet of steam flowing from hit. Harry could smell the stench of burnt plastic waft into the air.

"What does this mean, Albus?"

"It means, that the Chamber of Secrets is indeed open again." Dumbledore said

"But, Albus… surely… who?"

"The question is not who, the question is how…"

That left a very confused Harry and Hermione very confused as to what that meant. What did he mean _how_ was it opened? Did Dumbledore mean that he knew exactly who was opening the Chamber of Secrets, but he wasn't doing anything about it? There are some things that Dumbledore has done in the past to make Harry wary of the old man, but this would be the chart topper.

0Oo.-

Harry awoke the next morning with Hermione at his side, this time with breakfast.

"Hey you." She said when she saw he was awake

"Hey." Harry said

"How'd you sleep after our little.. um… visit, last night?"

"Alright."

Harry looked over at Colin's bed, trying to see if they had made any progress with the boy since last night, but the bed was covered in curtains. He guessed the Madam Pomfrey wanted to give the boy some privacy from prying eyes. Harry and Hermione sat quietly eating their breakfast before Madam Pomfrey came buslting over and used her wand to check if Harry's head was okay.

"All in order. When you've finished eating, you may leave." She said

So they did just that. Since it was a Sunday and there were no classes, Harry and Hermione started the long trek up to Gryffindor Tower.

"So what happened after I got hit in the head? The last I saw of you during the match, you were frozen petrified in the middle of the pitch." Harry said

"Well, we all of course came running down to see if you were okay. Lockhart tried to put a spell on you- claimed that you would wake right up, good as new- but I swatted him away. We brought you up to the Hospital Wing, and that was when the yelling started. Oliver nearly burst everyone's eardrums it was so loud. He was mad that I had frozen up during the game." She said

"Why did you freeze up?"

"I don't know. I honestly didn't realize just how nerve wracking it was to play in front of the entire school. But after the game, I realized that playing Quidditch just isn't for me. I enjoy flying, don't get me wrong, it's just that playing for the entire school just isn't what I thought it would be. I told Oliver that I wouldn't be playing anymore last night before I came down here to see you. Plus, I never really thought about it, but the amount of time that Oliver has you guys practicing is ridiculous. I would never have been able to keep up my grades with the amount of practice that he has."

"So is Alicia back on the team?"

"Yeah. It took a lot of convincing from Oliver to get her to come back, though. She was still annoyed at the fact that he had cut her from the team in the first place. But she eventually decided to join the team again. Hopefully Gryffindor will end up with more points next match now that you will have three functioning Chasers instead of two."

"Hey, it's not your fault. Some people just don't do well in front of a crowd. Stage fright, just in this case, it's more like broom fright. Plus, you could always come to our practices and still feel like a member of the team."

"I think I would like that. I still want to be part of the team, it's just that I know that I won't do well in games."

"So what else is new?"

"Well, somehow news got out about you being a Parstlemouth, so now everyone's going on about how you're Slytherin's heir and that you're going to be the one that is attacking muggle-born witches and wizards."

"That's ridiculous. I'm best friends with you, how could I ever harm someone just because of who their parents are? My mother was muggle-born!"

"I know, Harry, I was never accusing you, I was just letting you know what everyone was saying. But while everyone was talking about it at breakfast this morning, I couldn't help but notice that Malfoy was getting particularly annoyed at the fact that everyone thought that you were the heir. I think that he's up to something and I have a way to prove it."

"And what's that?"

"You me and Neville take a potion that will allow us to pose as anybody that we want, DNA provided of course."

"What about Luna? Couldn't she help us out with this, too?"

"The less people that we have with us, the better. The only reason that I suggest that we bring Neville is that the two of you can pose as Crabbe and Goyle."

"You know, Hermione, some of your plans have been pretty smart, but this one… this one is downright genius. The potion will allow us to get close enough to Malfoy to know exactly if he _is_ the heir. I would love to see him go down because he was dumb enough to spout it out in the Common Room."

"Yes, well, we all know that Malfoy isn't exactly the brightest Crayola in the box when it comes to his family's pride. Once he starts to talk about how great his family is, it'll be hard to get him to stop."

"So how long will this take to brew?"

"About a month, give or take. It's a very delicate procedure to make this and I can only hope that I'll get it right on the first try."

"Hey, you're the smartest witch in our grade, you're gonna do fine. Just make sure that we have everything that we need, and we'll be good to go."

"Well, here's the thing. The book that tells us how to brew the potion is in the Restricted Section. The only way that we're going to be getting at that book is with a signed note from a professor."

"Damn. What if I sneak in there with my Invisibility Cloak?"

"No, Madam Pince would notice if one of her precious books was missing. We'll have to find a teacher dumb enough to give us the note."

That was when Hermione looked at Harry with realization on her face. Harry knew that look all too well, and knew exactly where she was going to go with this.

"No."

"C'mon, Harry, it's just one little note."

"No."

"It'll help us find out if Malfoy really is the heir."

"I said no."

"Come on, it won't kill you to be nice to the man for once."

"Compared to what he was like when Colin was around with his camera? It'd be like the Daily Prophet itself was reporting on something."

"Harry, it's the only way for us to get that book. If we can't get Lockhart to sign that note, then we don't get that book and we never find out what Malfoy is up to."

"Fine. But you owe me one for this."

0Oo.-

The next day, Harry and Hermione were sitting in Defense Against the Dark Arts waiting for Lockhart to finish the lesson, but unfortunately for them, today was one of the days that the Professor wanted to do a reenactment from one of his books. And just to put the icing on the cake, Hermione made Harry volunteer to play the part of a werewolf that Lockhart had taken care of.

"Nice loud howl, Harry- exactly- and then, if you'll believe it, I pounced- like this- slammed him to the floor- thus with one hand, I managed to hold him down- with my other, I put my wand to his throat- I then screwed up my remaining strength and performed the immensely complex Homorphus Charm- he let out a piteous moan- go on, Harry- higher than that- good- the fur vanished- the fangs shrank- and he turned back into a man. Simple, yet effective- and another village will remember me forever as the hero who delivered them from the monthly terror of werewolf attacks." Lockhart "instructed" the class

Thankfully the bell rang and everyone was freed from having to listen to Lockhart drone on any longer. They were given homework to make a poem about the werewolf that Lockhart apparently defeated, and that was when Harry made his move. While everyone was leaving, Harry and Hermione walked up to Lockhart's desk with the note in his hand. He was groaning internally at the fact that he had to be nice to Lockhart for longer than five seconds.

"Er- Professor Lockhart? I wanted to- to get this book out of the library. Just for background reading. But the thing is, It's in the Restricted Section of the library, so I need a teacher to sign for it- I'm sure it would help me understand what you say in Gadding with Ghouls about slow acting venoms." Hermione said

"Ah, Gadding with Ghouls! Possibly my very favorite book. You enjoyed it?" Lockhart asked

"Oh, yes. So clever, the way you trapped that last one with the tea strainer-"

"Well, I'm sure no one will mind me giving the best student fo the year a little extra help. Yes, nice, isn't it?" Lockhart said, motioning to the large peacock quill that he pulled out "I usually save it for book-signings. So, Harry, how is your head? I saw that it was hit pretty hard at the game the other day. That was a nice catch you made. I was a Seeker, too. I was asked to try for the National Squad, but preferred to dedicate my life to the eradication of the Dark Forces. Still, if ever you feel the need for a little private training, don't hesitate to ask. Always happy to pass on my expertise to less able players…"

That grated Harry's nerves like no other. _Less able players?_ What was that supposed to mean? Harry was sure that he had more skill at Quidditch than Lockhart had magical ability in his entire body. But Harry kept quiet as Lockhart signed the slip. He handed the paper to Hermione and they walked away from their teacher.

"All right, now all that is needed is the book, and we can begin brewing." Hermione said

"Then we'll finally be able to tell if Malfoy is the Heir of Slytherin. I really don't like the idea of him being in control of this monster type thing that might be hunting you and the other muggleborns. There is something up with Malfoy and with this potion, we're finally going to be able to figure out if he is the one behind us. Especially with that comment about 'mud-bloods'," Harry said, air quoting around the words "It seems like he has a particular hate for anybody that is not his oh-so precious purebloods."

"Well, we both know from experience that purebloods tend to have that high and mightiness about them that makes anybody who wasn't raised by wizards fell like they aren't as much. I mean, there's Neville and Luna, but Neville is usually shy and timid, afraid of making friends at first, so he's not going to act all superior, and if what Luna's told us is true, she basically raised herself after her mother died. Really, those are the only two that don't have some sense of pure-blood superiority that we know. In others, it's not as noticeable, but really, they don't have any."

"I think that's why I like hanging out with them. They are really the only people in the wizarding world that don't really care about who I am or that you're the smartest kid in school and you weren't raised by wizards."

"Alright, Harry. I get that we're talking about how great Neville and Luna are, but you don't have to start making stuff up about me."

"Who said I was making stuff up about you?"

"Harry, I'm not the smartest kid in school. We're only in second year."

"Hermione, you make professors look dumb sometimes. You make everyone in the room look at you with envy when you earn Gryffindor points when answering a question nobody knows. How can you say that you aren't the smartest kid in school when you could take N.E.W.T.S. and still pass."

Hermione just looked at Harry in awe because of the fact that he managed to say all of those things about her and not even think twice about it. It was one of the things that made her start to fall for him.

 **To jackofspades95: I have already started to do that, so yeah.**

 **To Arnold DeVillena: Should it be any other way? I mean, even if the feeling didn't last, he said he loved her in Deathly Hallows.**

 **To ObsessedWithHPFanFic: The bullying for Luna is only going to get worse before it gets better. When you say you feel for her, do you mean that you have been bullied too?**

 **To Princesakarlita411: Like I said, it's gonna get worse before it gets better. Neville needs to stand up to Harry and Hermione about how he feels, otherwise he will never be heard. And Halloween is when he hears the snake for the first time, so it would have to happen now.**

 **To dnck: I don't see how the conversations are choppy, and I think that there is just the right amount of canon. I'm not going to use as little as 20%, it'll be closer to 40.**

 **To qwq qweqq: I understand that the A.N.'s are getting a little long, so that is why it is shorter in the beginning and longer at the end. That way if they don't want to read these, then they can skip it at the end. I say the things that I do because I appreciate constructive criticism, even if it hurts, but I hate the hate mail when someone just spams the review section with things that they don't like about the story without any possible things to fix this. To be honest, the entire Luna in the carriage thing was me forgetting about the boat, and then I tried to spin it without leaving a big plot hole. Didn't work out so well. And I have forgotten about Neville and Luna the past couple chapters, but I am going to fix that this time. I do not appreciate you calling me incompetent, though. I am still learning how to write the finer things about non-canon writing, so I would appreciate it if you would refrain from saying I am a bad writer when I am still learning. I will be proving Luna as more of a Gryffindor in the future, though. That was not a decision that I made without proving that she deserves to be there. And after thinking about it, it is better for Hermione to not be on the team, so that is why I made her choke during the match. She is a good Quidditch player, but the pressure of a game makes her crack, so it is keeping her fundamentally the same. And I have been trying my best to incorporate canon in just the right places. Thank you for pointing out the flaws, and I hope that the story becomes better.**

 **To Guest 1: Hey, this is fanfiction. The whole point is to change things to make them different from canon, which is why it is called fanfiction. I know Harry did not like Hermione at first, but I changed that as well as the Ron bashing, Luna being Ginny's friend. There are reasons that I have changed things. I am assuming the second guest review that is bashing my story is the same person, so here it goes. Harry was never in any danger. He took the car because twelve year old boys don't think very rationally. And if Harry wasn't at the Dursleys, then Sirius might have thought a little more rationally. Sirius didn't catch up to Pettigrew until about three days after Harry arrived at the Dursleys. If Sirius knew that he had something to lose, then he might not have chased after Peter the way he did. And James would not have been jailed for multiple reasons. 1) He was dead because of Voldemort 2) You don't get arrested for being friends with a werewolf until Umbridge held a lot of power in the Ministry. Your second review makes absolutely zero sense. Also, if this is the same guy from earlier chapters, why can't you take a hint and just leave and stop leaving hate mail?**

 **To Cheryl: Like I said, worse before better.**

 **To Red Phoenix Dragon: Nobody in the Golden Trio knows of house elves at Hogwarts, so there is no hope for that until later. And they are a little young to change the system, but that will come later as well.**

 **To Young Prince Lou: I figured it would add some much needed comedy to the story. I am going to try to get some more comedy in the story, just to lighten the mood a little bit.**

 **To Deathmvp: I kind of rushed the ending, but I will try to keep the content in a high quality for the rest of the story.**

 **To Diplex: Thank you for taking my side on the matter. It gets annoying when people complain about not enough canon. If they want more, they should go read the books.**

 **To frumpygoo: It might be a little OOC, but that is just the way Neville is in this story. And as I have said, I have kind of forgotten about Neville and Luna, but I will be doing better in the future.**

 **To Amarylle: I have already fixed the review part. I have already mentioned that I will fix the Neville and Luna problem. And I have already fixed the Hermione on the Quidditch team problem. Thank you for the review**

 **To VonPelt: I have already mentioned that I will fix most of the problems in your review. It will be revealed why he is so attached**

 **To All-Good-Marauders: I will keep writing, and fix the Neville-Luna problem. But Hermione will still be petrified, and of course, Harry will be revealed to be a Parseltongue.**

 **To Guest: Thanks for the review. I'm happy that you enjoy it so much.**

 **To fraewyn: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy the story.**

 **To Beyondthesea16: The bullying is going to start calming down soon. And I'm not trying to sound rude, but if you had read the chapter with them in Diagon Alley, you would've seen that Lucius put the diary in Ginny's cauldron.**


	13. Author's Note

**A.N.: Hey guys, what's up? This isn't going to be an actual chapter, just an author's note. The reason it's not an actual chapter is because of the fact that I feel that this story has strayed so far from what I wanted it to be. This story has just become another run of the mill Harry/Hermione fan fiction with major Dumbledore and Ron bashing. I never wanted my story to blend in, I wanted it to stick out. But in my hopes of having people like it, I started to write my stories based off of the reviews I got, not my original plans. And for that I'm sorry. I want to be a better author for this story and I want to give you guys the story you deserve. So I'm putting this story on an indefinite hiatus and I'm starting over. I'm recreating this story so that it's not based off of reviews, it's from what I wanted it to be. If you guys are upset, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to continue to write a story that I don't like anymore. At that point, I just start dreading writing the chapters and then you guys don't get an update for months. So I'm starting anew with a new story, and I'm going to try my best to make this one better. Until next time, OPKILLERFROST, out.**


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